Don't Look Back
by Capitaine Pickle
Summary: Rather than Kushina going to Konoha, Minato goes to Uzushio, a village still standing strong... but for how much longer? Focuses mostly on Naruto's childhood in Uzushiogakure.
1. Prologue

**Summary:** Rather than Kushina going to Konoha, Minato goes to Uzushio, a village still standing strong... but for how much longer? Focuses mostly on Naruto's childhood in Uzushiogakure.

I'm not even sure myself where I'm going with this, but the majority of Naruto's early childhood will probably be told through Minato's POV.

**Pairings:** MinaKushi, maybe others. Focuses mostly on Naruto's childhood in Uzushiogakure with his parents and the rest of his clan to raise him.

**Warning:** I completely messed up the Naruto Universe. You're welcome.

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><p><strong>Don't Look Back<strong>

_Prologue: The Blond Uzumaki of Uzushio_

''Ok guys, let's do this one more time.'' Minato called out to the group of young academy students. He turned his back to them and started the kata. ''Right. Left.'' The kids copied his punches and cried out with determination with each hit. ''Knee. Block. Right. Left. Turn and kick.'' He continued on until the end of the series and turned to his students once again. ''Excellent! We'll have some free sparring for the rest of the class, how about that?'' The young students cheered in excitement and instantly got into their usual pairs. Minato made a few shadow clones and walked around the training field to give some feedback to the students.

''Wait, Shindo-kun. Do that again for me, will you?''

''Sure!'' The kid said and did his moves again. ''Like this?''

''Almost. It's pretty good, but when you punch, you stand a little too straight.'' Minato went into a fighting stance. ''See how I'm bending my knees a little? And notice how my other arm is ready to protect the left side of my ribs. Like this, it's harder to hit me back. I'll have a quicker defence response if my body is ready.'' The 9 year old nodded vigorously and tried again. The two boys did their little sparring moves again and, indeed, Shindo was much quicker to respond.

''Was that good, Minato-Sensei?''

''Very.'' Minato grinned and ruffled the child's short brown hair. Class was over before long. Minato let a heavy sigh once the kids were gone. This was going to be a lot of work.

''Already tired of teaching, Minato-_Sensei_?'' A teasing voice interrupted his thoughts. Minato smiled slightly and turned to the redhead.

''Hey, Risa-san.'' He greeted politely. ''I'm not tired of it. I like it more than I thought actually. I'm happy I can share my skills with so many young students. Plus, I get to stay in the village instead of going on mission, so I definitely won't miss my son's birth.'' He grinned widely at that. To be honest, staying around his wife and future child had been the main reason he decided to take on the teaching position. If possible, he intended on keeping the post for about two years. He'd only started a month ago, and he kind of missed being active already, but he definitely enjoyed his job as a teacher too.

''Right, Kushina's due pretty soon.'' Risa smiled; she was a distant cousin but was the same age as Kushina. The two of them had been very close as children.

''Yup, on the tenth.'' Minato confirmed, grin still wide.

''A nice teaching job, a pregnant wife... why the sigh, then?''

Minato hesitated; he didn't want to upset his co-worker, but it's not like he hadn't had that debate before.

''I'm just a little discouraged. They are almost two years behind in taijutsu, compared to Konoha students of the same grade level.'' The Uzumaki raised an unimpressed brow at that. It did not surprise Minato; Uzumaki Risa was the fuinjutsu teacher of the village's ninja academy. She was probably the worst person to talk to about his thoughts on Uzushio's curriculum.

''Even adult, full-fledge Konoha ninjas rarely study fuinjutsu, much less the academy students. You're an exception, Minato-san. I'm willing to admit taijutsu isn't our strength, but our fuinjutsu more than makes up for it. You know our village's reputation.'' She definitely sounded smug. Minato had to keep himself from snorting.

''It's not only taijutsu though; they're also behind in ninjutsu.'' Minato was teaching grade 4 taijutsu and weapons, as well as grade 6 and 7 ninjutsu, so he knew what he was talking about. ''But taijutsu is important because when you no longer have any chakra, you can still defend yourself.'' Back in Konoha, students finished learning all their Katas in grade 2. Yet here, he still had to go through some of them.

''No more chakra? That rarely happens to us, as you know. And isn't it better to be very strong in one of the arts, rather than being average in everything?'' Minato pursed his together, trying not to let his annoyance get the better of him. He needed to stay polite.

''True, Uzumakis have immense chakra reserves, but the other clans of the village aren't as gifted. Some of my students can get chakra exhaustion pretty quickly after using seals. That's when they can rely on their taijutsu. And let's not mention all the circumstances in which ninjas are unable to use their chakra at all. If you met a Hyuuga in battle, for example-'' Risa was well acquainted with the Hyuuga clan of Konoha, but she was not any less convinced and promptly interrupted the blond.

''-Their 'Gentle Fist' stands no chance against even the weakest of our seal masters, but I don't expect an outsider to fully understand the true strength of our village.'' Minato frowned at that. He must have pushed the Uzumaki's buttons too much because he usually didn't get rude comments like that. Uzumakis and their short tempers.

''I suppose not.'' He replied, keeping his tone neutral. ''Kushina's probably waiting for me now. I'll see you tomorrow.''

OoOoO

The sight of his beautiful pregnant wife was all it took to make Minato forget about his argument with Risa. The two lovers decided to eat out that night. Minato had ramen of course, and smiled almost goofily at the little fishcakes in his bowl. He took one with his chopsticks and showed it to his wife, who chuckled in turn. He preferred his own village's Ichiraku Ramen, but he didn't dare mention it to his wife. The Red Hot Habanero was very much enamoured with her Sumo Ramen. After their delicious dinner, the two lovebirds walked together around the village, hand in hand. It was early October, but the weather was still fairly warm for the season and the days still long enough to allow comfortable walks around the busy streets. Even after almost three years in the village, Minato wasn't any less impressed with the village's architecture as he was the first time he arrived. He had fallen in love instantly with the village. And soon after, he had fallen in love with Uzumaki Kushina.

It seemed like yesterday when the young Jounin had come under the Lord Third's special recommendation to go and study seals in the 'Village of Longevity'. The village was an oddly shaped island surrounded by several large turbulent rivers that met to form giant whirlpools. They served as natural defences. The village was only easily accessible through the four large bridges at each cardinal extremities of the island. The village was still expending, but since they were on an island, they were forced to adopt a completely different approach for their architecture. While you could still find the older, traditional wooden-based buildings scattered around, most constructions were getting higher and higher. They were built with large flat stones, but light in both colour and weight. It was awe-inspiring, if you asked Minato. The people of Uzushio were known to be rather rough and proud people. They did not hesitate to plaster their village's symbol everywhere in the village: on large memorial stones, on tall decorative pillars, on banners scattered about everywhere. Minato didn't blame them, though. They had the right to be proud of the legacy they had built.

Minato and Kushina soon reached their favourite park near one of the borders of the village. It was there that they had their first date. They sat on a bench, not so far from the rivers. If you listened carefully, you could hear the strong flow of the waters. Minato pulled Kushina close to him to allow her to rest her head on his shoulder. He gently put his other hand on her stomach. He could feel his little Naruto moving around. Minato smiled fondly. He couldn't wait to see the little redhead. Because he could only be a redhead, right? He remembered when that subject came up at the beginning of Kushina's pregnancy. Kushina had made a similar comment and Minato had innocently replied _'What if he's blond?'_ Kushina had looked at him as if he had just affirmed that pigs could fly. It had been a little awkward, but even Minato couldn't deny the facts. There was not a _single_ person with Uzumaki blood who didn't have red hair, especially those who were closer to the main branch family like Kushina and weren't mixed with other clans as much. Not that Minato actually cared about something as trivial as hair colour.

The clan name Naruto would receive hadn't been an issue either. They were here, in Uzushio, and Minato was an orphan who definitely did not belong to any important family. He actually had been the first one to suggest it. Kushina hadn't because she was afraid she would offend Minato, but he was, in fact, honoured and proud that his son would bear the Uzumaki name. His little boy would grow up with an entire clan to support and love him and teach all sorts of interesting things. He would belong to something greater than himself, unlike Minato. He was more than happy to give to his son what he couldn't have. Though, thinking back on his day at the academy, he would make sure his son would receive a more balanced training.

''What's making you smile like that, hm?'' Kushina asked teasingly, looking up at him.

''Naru-chan, of course.'' He grinned. Kushina chuckled and looked down at her stomach. ''How are you feeling? Did the seal give you any trouble today?'' Minato asked worriedly. The seal was the only downside of the pregnancy. The seal was becoming increasingly fragile and that had some nasty side effects on Kushina.

''It's mostly the nightmares at night, you know? That damn fox wants to get out. Well I won't let him! I had that strange ominous vibration again earlier, but I'm used to it by now. So don't worry, okay?'' Minato stroke his wife's hair. He hoped the delivery would go well...

OoOoO

Barely a few days later, Minato was pleasantly surprised by the arrival of his old sensei, Jiraiya, and his student, Kakashi, who had decided to make an appearance for Naruto's birth.

That night, when the ninth day of October had just turned into the tenth, Minato was woken by a frantic and excited Kushina who had just broke her waters. The four of them, as well as several Uzumaki clan members, moved to a large hospital room which had been prepared specifically for Kushina's delivery. The Uzumakis' greatest seal masters were present and several demonic chakra suppressing seals were plastered on the walls. It was the first time a Kyuubi Jinchuuriki was giving birth; Uzumaki Mito, the very first Jinchuriki, had sealed the demon after she had given birth to hers and Lord First's children. The Uzumaki clan wanted to take no risks. All necessary measures had been taken to keep the Bijuu at bay as well as to keep both mother and child safe. Minato held his wife's had tightly.

''Hang in there, Kushina!'' He said nervously. He had never seen his lover in so much pain. ''A-are you sure she's alright? And Naruto? And the seal? Is something-''

''Calm down, boy.'' Nadeko, Kushina's mother, said. She looked rather amused to see Minato like this. The blond was usually so calm and collected. ''Everything is under control.'' Kushina was half-panting, half growling in pain. She was literally crushing Minato's hand in hers.

''I'll make you pay for putting me through this.'' She hissed at her husband, who looked behind him toward his sensei and student, silently begging for help. Said two Leaf nins had retreated to a corner of the room, much too overwhelmed by all that was happening.

''I've never seen Kushina-chan looking so scary... and that's saying something.'' Kakashi whispered hastily to Jiraiya, sweating cold in fear. Jiraiya nodded vigorously.

''Seriously, check out all those seals. Those Uzumakis are crazy! It looks more like a satanic ritual than the birth of a child.'' He whispered back.

''Got something to say, perverted old man?'' Nadeko barked over to the two ninjas.

''No-no! Of course not!'' Jiraiya laughed nervously. He should have thought twice before trying to spy on one of Uzushio's public bathes. He had been caught by none other than Kushina's mother. He's been on her bad side since then.

''The seal is weakening again!'' Nanami, Kushina's older sister, cried out urgently. The air suddenly became heavy and serious again. The Fuin masters doubled their chakra input.

''Don't falter, comrades.'' The clan leader himself was overseeing the birth. Their efforts had stayed unshaken for the last 11 hours and now more than ever, as the child was to come any minute, was not the time to get distracted or tired.

''I- I can see his head!'' The clan's doctor cried out. Minato and Kushina looked at each other, beyond thrilled. However, their joy turned to fear with the next statement. ''Wait. How... strange.'' Reading through Kushina's mind, Miinato nodded to her in reassurance before letting go of her hand. _'I got this, don't worry'_ was the unspoken message. He quickly went to the doctor and nurse; everyone's eyes were on him.

''Stay focused.'' The clan leader reminded the sealers, who brought their attention back to their jutsus.

Minato arrived just as Naruto completely made his way out, crying loud and clear. Minato's insecurities disappeared instantly. Instead, a proud, _triumphant_ smile drew itself on his features. He could feel his eyes water from the all the emotions he was experiencing.

''Incredible...'' The nursed muttered.

''What? What?! What's happening? Is my baby boy okay? I can't see a damn thing, you know! Minato, has he got all his fingers?'' Kushina was beside herself. She was tired, hormonal, and she wasn't sure she liked what she was hearing from the medical staff. Only Minato's goofy smile kept her from completely losing it.

''Our son is beautiful, Kushina!'' Minato exclaimed. His voice was shaky with emotions. He quickly cut the umbilical cord, as instructed by the nurse. He did not leave her side as she moved to the little basin right beside her so she could wash the little baby. She quickly wrapped Naruto in a fluffy cover and handed him over to his father.

The little that was left of Minato's restraint left as soon as his son was in his arms. He let the tears fall freely and landed his very first kiss on a soft scarred cheek.

''I want to see him too, you know!'' Kashina meant to sound firm, but she, too, was overwhelmed by her emotions and joy. Minato laughed an awkward teary laugh before moving over to his wife.

''Meet your mommy, Naruto.'' Minato whispered to the bawling baby. He lowered his arms so she could see him properly. Her breath caught as she saw him. Then, her expression melted into a wide smile, tears threatening to fall.

''Our son was bound to be special.'' She chuckled, taking the baby into her arms. Minato could only nod in agreement.

The hard part was over; the baby was healthy and the seal stayed intact. The seal masters could finally relax. All clan members, as well as Jiraiya and Kakashi, gathered around the new parents, curious to see the baby and what made him so special.

They met Naruto, the very first blond Uzumaki.


	2. Chapter 1

**Note:** I want to thank everyone who fav'ed, followed or reviewed my story. It's very much appreciated. :)

I'm sorry if my story has an agonizingly slow pace. There will be some action later on. For now, it's really more about Naruto's childhood and describing the live he might have lived in Uzushio.

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><p><strong>Don't Look Back<strong>

_Clan Expectations_

''Finally, we're back home.'' Uzumaki Shouga said with unrestrained relief. Minato smiled at his comrade's words. He, too, had felt his spirits lift up at the sight of the Great Southern Bridge, one of the four bridges of the Uzushiogakure. Minato, Shouga and two other ninjas from other clans of the village were just getting back from a long mission. Three weeks, to be exact. Three long weeks. Minato had gone on such long missions before of course, and even longer ones, but even a day felt like an eternity when you had a cute three year old waiting at home for you. Minato felt his heart tighten at the thought. It had been a little less than a year since he stopped teaching and went back on active duty. The first months had been the hardest for the young Uzumaki family. This mission was by far the longest since he started going on missions again.

Once he reached his home, Minato decided he would surprise his wife and child. After making sure neither of them was in the entry way, Minato quietly opened the door and completely suppressed his chakra. He silently made his way toward the living room, where he could hear two happy voices chatting. He looked inside, hiding behind the wall, and saw that Naruto was apparently drawing on a scroll on the low coffee table, with his mother sitting beside him. He also noticed with some degree of puzzlement that Naruto was sitting in Seiza and holding a calligraphy brush to draw. _Odd_, he thought. But he could care less at the moment.

''Guess who's back?'' He said softly, though that didn't keep his wife from gasping nor his son from letting out an loud excited shriek.

''Minato!'' His wife clapped her hands together and smiled brightly.

''Daddy! Daddy!'' Naruto, on the other hand, literally jumped onto him. Minato caught him and held him close to him in a tight hug. The poor little blond started to sob uncontrollably, as if his dad's sudden arrival reminded him of how much he had missed him. It broke Minato's heart every time without fail. The older blond burred his nose against a soft scarred cheek and laid a few kisses on each of them.

''I missed you so much.'' Naruto said in between sobs.

''Me too.'' Minato tightened his grip on his son, then knelt in front of his wife, his boy still in his arms. The two parents kissed tenderly, happy to be together again. The three of them sat close together, the younger blond still in his father's lap. Kushina stroke his little boy's back, soothing the boy's trembling body. Eventually, the boy calmed down.

''It was really hard on him this time.'' Kushina said, looking down at the little blond.

''I bet. It was for me too.''

''I take it the mission went well though. You're a bit early. I guess that's to be expected of the _Yellow Flash_.'' She said in a teasing tone. Minato blinked in confusion.

''Yellow Flash?'' Kushina chuckled at her husband's confusion.

''Rumours travel fast in the ninja world. That's how people have been calling you lately.''

''Wow.'' Minato laughed, surprised by the news. ''My technique's not even quite polished yet. I haven't used it that much and it's already that popular?''

''What's a Yellow Flash?'' Asked a confused Naruto.

''It's a seal daddy made that makes him move super fast!'' Kushina explained excitedly.

''So cool!'' Naruto looked up at his dad with wide blue eyes. Minato couldn't resist and kissed his boy's forehead.

''I'll teach you when you're older.'' Naruto cheered in triumph at that. Minato chuckled and let his eyes fall on the scroll that Naruto had been drawing on earlier. Or at least, he thought Naruto had been drawing, but that was clearly not the case. He had never seen such a scroll before. It had series of dotted swirly shapes, half of which were clumsily traced over with a brush. Naruto's work, undoubtedly.

''What's that?'' He asked his wife, pointing at the scroll with his chin.

''Oh, that?'' Kushina took a quick glance at the scroll. ''They're exercises in preparation to writing. It makes children practice movements that are common when writing.'' Minato raised a confused brow at that.

''Naruto's only three years old. Isn't it a bit early for that?'' Kushina shook her head.

''Not at all. It was about time I got started.'' When she saw Minato still staring blankly at her, she knew she had to expend. ''I guess you're not familiar about that aspect of our village.'' Kushina chuckled before continuing. ''Parents have to make sure their children know how to read, write and count before they start the academy. They don't teach that there.''

''They don't?'' Minato exclaimed with disbelief. He had taught two years there and didn't even know that? Then again, he had only taught the older kids. Kushina laughed at his reaction.

''Nope. The first two years are dedicated to learning the Kobun.''

Ah, the Kobun, Minato thought. Now that he thought about it, it made sense. It also explained why they started the academy at five; a year earlier than most academies of other ninja villages. The Kobun, literally meaning Ancient Writing, was an old alphabet only used in Uzushio village and strictly for sealing. It is one of the many elements that kept their infamous sealing techniques a secret from outsiders. It was an extremely complex alphabet with more ideograms and meanings than he could count. The modern writing was a much, much more simple version of it and had been around for several centuries now. Barely anyone outside of Uzushio knew the Old Writing even existed. Minato had had to learn a good chunk of it himself when he started studying here; it was this alphabet that he had used for his Hirashin marking, which was very different from the second hokage's own simple design. Minato's seal was much more intricate, hence the difficulty he was having perfecting it. If he succeeded however, he had no doubt that his seal would surpass even the Nidaime's original technique. Uzushio seals weren't notorious for nothing.

Still, Minato thought somewhat bitterly, he would have liked Naruto to live his carefree childhood a little while longer before starting his training. But such was the life of a shinobi, and Naruto had a blessed one compared to many other children of other ninja villages.

''Speaking of which,'' Minato's thoughts were interrupted by his wife. ''I'm leaving for a mission of my own next week, so I'm counting on you to make him do his daily exercises.''

Minato looked down at his little boy, who was looking between his parents with a confused expression. He smiled at the clueless look he was getting, then nodded.

''Alright.''

OoOoO

Ever since Naruto came to life, it seemed Minato kept learning new things almost everyday about the Uzumaki clan and the village in general. Seeing it from the perspective of a child and native of the village, Minato was constantly confronted with new realities of Uzushio. One of those discoveries had come up during a quiet evening at home. Minato and Kushina had been sitting on the couch, snuggled against each other with Naruto sleeping soundly, spread out over his parents' laps. Naruto had just turned four and, truth to be told, Minato was starting to worry about his son's health. Now seemed like a good time to discuss it with Kushina.

''Kushina... don't you think Naruto's chakra coils are developing too slowly? They should have completely matured by now, but...'' He trailed off, looking down at the sleeping blond. He passed his hand through his son's fine hair.

''You think so?'' Kushina replied, not even an ounce of concern in her voice. She performed a quick scan jutsu and ran a hand, radiating blue chakra, over her son's body. ''It looks perfectly fine to me.'' Minato's eyebrows shot high on his forehead. ''But I see why you would be concerned.''

''What do you mean?''

''As you know, people in our village have huge chakra reserves and we also live longer, so it usually takes more time for our chakra coils to develop.'' Minato nodded understandingly. It made perfect sense. ''It's not just that though. Some members of the clan argue it's our blood line, though that is debatable... Uzumakis have the potential to develop a unique type of chakra. The longer the chakra takes to develop, the more unique or stronger the ability will be.''

''Really? I didn't know that.'' Minato said, genuinely impressed. Kushina chuckled again.

''And yet, you know someone with this ability _quite well_.'' Kushina said with a teasing tone. Realization dawned on Minato's blue eyes.

''Your chakra chains.'' He stated in awe. Kushina nodded.

''My chakra coils took seven years to develop properly. Naturally, my chakra control was totally screwed up because of that, but it paid off. I have the ability to control the Bijuus with my chains. That's pretty awesome, you know?'' She chuckled. ''And my sister's daughter.''

''Karin.'' Minato filled in.

''Little Karin is five years old now and she's still developing her chakra coils. It's a bit too early to say, but from the test they ran, our clan's medic nins think her chakra might have the ability to cure even life-threatening injuries instantly. They used her blood for transfusions and the results were outstanding.''

''Impressive.'' Was all Minato could say. He looked back down at his little sunshine sleeping peacefully, so did Kushina.

''Yeah. Hiroto-sama also took pretty long to develop his chakra coils and you know his strength.'' Kushina smiled fondly at her son. ''Naru-chan's got your blond hair. Who knows what else he got from you, you know? So, I'm actually relieved that his chakra coils are developing so slowly. It means he's a true Uzumaki. If they weren't, that probably would have meant that I would have outlived my own son, you know? And I just can't accept that.''

Minato could understand her fear. It was the main reason she had been a little reticent to begin a relationship with him, an outsider. People of the Village of Longevity lived on average 50 years longer than people from other villages, and Uzumakis usually lived the longest. So unless she died during a mission, which was out of the question in Minato's mind, he would leave his wife a widow for several decades. Watching her son die before her... Minato didn't even want to think about it.

This new revelation also explained Uzumaki Hiroto's unusual ability to steal chakra from his opponents. He remembered when he had first met the clan leader, Uzumaki Hiroto. He was 105 years old, but could easily pass for a healthy, fit 65 years old man. The elder was among the tallest men in the village. He looked imposing with his traditional armour and magnificent straight long hair, now white with age. Needless to say, Minato had been very impressed with the man.

''I just know our Naru-chan will be just as extraordinary.'' Kushina said with genuine candour, stroking the little blond's belly. Minato didn't say anything in reply. He knew, of course, that even if Naruto didn't develop some kind of special ability, it wouldn't disappoint Kushina or change her love for him. He knew his uneasy feeling was silly and unjustified... but he simply couldn't help it. Minato himself didn't come from a prestigious clan or family of any sort. He was an orphan and grew up completely free of expectations. Seeing other kids from clans such as the Uchihas or Hyuugas in Konoha had taught him that being born in such a clan came with its downsides. Somehow, Minato knew that Naruto would suffer because of his clan, and one of Minato's fears was his inability to protect his son from his own family.

''What's the longest it ever took to develop chakra coils in your family?'' Minato asked suddenly, curiosity taking the better of him.

''That would by my mother's cousin's son, Nagato.'' Kushina suddenly became morose. She and Nagato had been almost the same age. He had been a shy, gentle kid. ''It took him eleven years for his chakra to reach maturity. We never got to find out what his special ability was however. Unfortunately, he died at around fourteen during the Third Shinobi War.''

Minato looked to the ground in silence. The pain of the Third War was still fresh in everyone's heart.

OoOoO

Minato's fears first truly materialized themselves when Naruto started the academy.

''This is unacceptable.'' Kushina breathed out angrily as she slammed the test results down on the kitchen table. Naruto, sitting at the other end of the table, was looking down shamefully with tears threatening to fall. Minato, sitting on the side, was looking warily between his wife and son.

Every week, students of the academy were quizzed on the Kobun and asked to bring the graded paper home o their parents the next day. Naruto started the academy two months ago and had failed every single test so far. On his latest test, the teacher had written a note saying he was concerned about Naruto's results; he was now at the bottom of his class and wasn't showing any progress despite regularly spending recess with the teacher reviewing and practicing the ideograms at home.

''Naruto, this can't go on. I'm sorry, but you'll have to stop training with your father until you can have at least a passing grade on a vocabulary test.'' Both blonds' eyes widened in consternation.

''Wait, Kushina, I don't think this is-'' Minato wanted to protest be he was cut off by the outburst of his son.

''No! I don't want to! This is unfair!'' Tears were falling down freely on his face, but there was clear anger in those normally so soft blue eyes. ''I hate school... it's stupid.'' Naruto broke down into sobs again, hiding his face in his arms resting on the table.

''Naruto-'' Kushina started warningly; he wouldn't get away with tears this time. Minato decided it was time for him to intervene.

''Kushina, calm down. Please.'' Minato said as kindly, yet firmly as he could. Kushina looked like she was about to blow up at him too, but she decided to refrain herself. ''You too, Naruto.'' He said as he turned to his son. He put his hand on Naruto's hair, meaning to comfort him, but his son pushed the hand away. The five year old sat up from the table and rushed his way out of the kitchen.

''Naruto, come back here, we're not done talking to you!'' Kushina shout out after him and was about to go fetch him back when Minato stopped her.

''Let him be. We need to talk alone anyway.'' Minato said calmly. Kushina shot him an angry look, then sighed.

''Right. We do.'' Kushina took her seat back at the end of the table and crossed her arms looking expectantly at him.

''Kushina, I know you insist on studying the Kobun with him, but... Naruto certainly isn't a slacker. I'm surprised he hasn't passed a single test yet. I really don't think spending more time studying it will help. It will only make him more frustrated. Rather, don't you think the problem might be... the way he's being taught?'' Minato chose his words carefully; he knew it wouldn't help to accuse Kushina or the academy teachers directly. Still, that didn't keep Kushina from looking positively offended. Before Kushina could lash out at him, Minato continued to explain himself.

''Think about it, Kushina. It's just like when he was learning arithmetic last year. Naruto is a kinesthetic learner. He learns by doing and seeing the relationship between the material and real world applications. If all he does at school and at home is sit around reviewing the characters from the Kobun and practicing them, he's never going to learn regardless of the time you spend with him.''

Kushina's entire demeanour changed at her husband's words. She felt thoroughly chastised.

''You're right...'' She sighed, looking down at her lap. ''I just did what my mother did with me and her mother before her without considering Naruto's learning style.'' She looked up at him again, suddenly becoming frustrated again. ''But I can't exactly bake recipes and cut out pies to teach him the Kobun like I did for math, you know?''

''True.'' Minato stroke his chin pensively for a second. ''But maybe...'' He trailed off, considering some solutions he had been thinking about.

''Maybe...?'' Kushina urged him to continue.

''Maybe you should teach him some basic seals.'' Kushina's jaw dropped.

''What? Are you out of your mind? It's way too early! Not to mention, he needs to know the Kobun to make seals, you know? Who knows what's going to happen if he makes mistakes? It's way too dangerous.'' That was it, her husband was insane.

''Under close watch it wouldn't be dangerous, especially if he just practices the strokes without using chakra to pour into them. They'll just be harmless scribbles. If you're scared he'll accidentally pour some chakra into them, just put a chakra suppressing seal on him. I'm just thinking... If you teach Naruto some seals, he'll be able to truly see the purpose of his learning. I'm sure making links between the characters, their meanings and their effects on seals will help him memorize the Kobun.''

''Um...'' Kushina took all the information in and pondered on it. ''You're right.'' Kushina sighed in defeat at last. ''I'm a horrible mother.'' Minato chuckled at Kushina, ever the over dramatic.

''You're not. You're the best!'' Minato cheered. ''I got practice, I suppose... Naruto just reminds me so much of Obito...'' The thought of his deceased student suddenly made Minato's face twist in sadness.

Kushina rose from her seat to join her lover and wrapped her arms loosely around him. The gesture warmed Minato's heart.

''I know I said I'd take care of Naruto's sealing tutoring and you'd take care of the physical training, but I think it'd be good for both of you if you replaced me from time to time.'' Minato grinned up to her.

''I'd like that.''

OoOoO

The next incident occurred barely a few days after that night.

''Naru-chan, dinner's ready!'' Kushina called out in the hallway towards Naruto's bedroom door. The mention of dinner would usually have Naruto out of his room within the second, but Kushina was surprised of the contrary. After a few seconds of waiting, the concerned mother went to the door and tried to open it but failed. It was locked. She knocked on it a few times.

''Naru-chan, are you in there?''

''Go away!'' Kushina's eyes widened, taken aback by Naruto's completely out of character behaviour. She would probably have gone into Habanero mode if it hadn't been from the trembling of Naruto's voice.

''What's the matter, Naruto? Are you hurt?''

''No. Please. Go away.'' The weakness and desperation in Naruto's voice was breaking Kushina's heart. There was no way she was going to let Naruto alone like this without knowing why. She pushed on Naruto's door with all her strength, effectively pushing away the chair that was leaning against the doorknob to lock it.

''Naruto!'' Came Kushina's panicked shout as soon as she saw her son. This, of course, caught the attention of Minato, who came rushing upstairs as soon as he heard the scream. Minato nearly let out a shout of his own when he saw his son. He, too, had at first mistaken the dark red liquid for blood, but the distinctive colour and smell had kept him from letting it out.

''What on Earth happened?'' Minato came rushing by his wife's side, who was checking a crying Naruto over for injuries. Fortunately, there were none.

''Is that beet juice?'' Kushina asked with utter bewilderment when she ran her hand into Naruto's now deep red hair. There was also a bit of juice everywhere; face, clothes, arms, even on the floor. Naruto didn't provide his mother with an answer, too busy crying. Though it's not like his parents needed a confirmation anyways.

''I-I'm sorry...''

Kushina exchanged a concerned look with her husband.

''I'll go prepare a bath.'' Kushina said before getting up and moving out of the room.

''Why did you do that, sweetie?'' Minato had his suspicions, but he wanted to hear Naruto's explanation.

''It's...'' Naruto wiped out his tears and sniffled a few time. ''My cousins at school… They say I'm not a real Uzumaki.'' _Just as I thought_, Minato kept his sigh for himself. Uzumakis, whether closely related or not, tended to refer to each other as cousins. Minato knew there were quite a few in Naruto's class. He had hoped the kids wouldn't exclude their own cousin for something as silly as hair colour. But he knew kids could be cruel. ''Everyone laughs at me 'cause I have bad grades. They say it's because I'm an outsider... I Just... I just want them to accept me.''

''Those brats.'' Came Kushina's voice, who had just gotten back from the bathroom. ''I'll have a good talk with their parents. They'll regret this.'' The fire in Kushina's eyes and her Kyuubi-like hair spoke volumes of intentions. Minato nodded in agreement.

''No!'' Naruto protested heatedly, taking his parents by surprise. ''Don't do anything, please. They'll laugh at me even more.'' Kushina sighed in defeat.

''We'll talk about this later, Naruto. For now, get in the bath. I don't want the beets to stain your beautiful blond hair.'' That last part of the statement brought an unreadable look into Naruto's eyes. He looked at his father, then lowered his gaze and nodded.

Much to the little family's horror, the beet juice had been there long enough to leave a light pinkish colour in Naruto's hair. That did nothing to calm the little boy's sobs. However, Kushina couldn't let Naruto go without a good scolding. Naruto had brought this upon himself; acting recklessly and thoughtlessly instead of consulting his parents. Even though Minato agreed with her, he couldn't bring himself to participate in the reprimand. Instead, he just kept washing the boy's face and hair. _The colour will probably take weeks to fade completely, _He thought to himself_. _

By the time they finished washing Naruto, the dinner had gone cold. After a quiet re-heated dinner, they decided to put Naruto to bed early, seeing as all the emotions and crying had made him tired. Closing the door quietly behind her, Kushina turned to her husband and spoke in a hushed tone.

''That conversation with Naruto isn't over. You should talk to him about it too, no just me.'' Kushina often accused Minato of being too soft with Naruto, and even of spoiling him too much. He had to admit it was true; he had never been good with the discipline part of raising Naruto. That had caused a fair share of fights between him and his wife, who was tired of having the 'bad role'. Minato sighed in defeat.

''You're right. I'll talk to him in the morning. He never thinks before acting, and he has to learn that it isn't necessarily the best way to deal with his problems.'' Kushina nodded firmly in agreement. ''I have a feeling he won't want to go to the academy tomorrow. Maybe I'll be able to convince him to go.''

The two lovers continued their talk in the living room for a while before Kushina retired to bed early as well. Minato, on the other hand, decided to go in his office to work on his Hirashin jutsu. Lately, he's been trying to have it combined with kunais, but standard kunais were too light for the purpose of the jutsu. As he drew some sketches for a personalized model, he was interrupted by the sound of light baby steps coming his way. His smiled fondly, then looked at the time. _What's Naruto doing up at this time? And have I been working for that long?_

''What'cha doing, daddy?'' Came the tired, but curious voice. The little pink-blond boy was half hidden behind the door, waiting for permission to come in, as he had been repeatedly instructed when Minato was working. Minato gestured for him to come closer. Naruto wasted no time and hopped into Minato's welcoming arms.

''I'm working on my special technique.''

''What's it called?''

''Well... I call it the 'Super Flashy Flying Thunder God Dynamic Turbo Style' jutsu, but people think it's too long, so they just call it the Flying Thunder God jutsu.'' Minato smiled at Naruto's shameless giggling and ruffled his hair.

''You always have weird jutsu names.'' Minato shrugged nonchalantly.

''Being like everyone else is kinda boring.'' That would be a nice introduction for his talk. ''My weird jutsu names is part of what makes me unique and special. Just like your blond hair.'' The last part made Naruto sober up quickly. He looked down in shame.

''I'm sorry...''

''I know.'' He smiled. ''It's over now.''

''But, I didn't want to make you sad, you know?'' Minato smiled at the verbal tic his son got from Kushina. Though he wasn't sure what his son meant by hurting him.

''Make me sad?'' Naruto hesitated and looked away from his father's face, searching for his words.

''I like daddy's hair too, not just mommy's.'' _Ah, I hadn't even looked at it this way._ Of course, it had never crossed Minato's mind that Naruto had dyed his hair because he was ashamed of his heritage. Naruto wasn't even capable of thinking like that, that much Minato knew. Naruto must have realized his dad might have taken it the wrong way, being the only two blonds in the entire village, and had regretted it instantly.

''I know you didn't mean to make me sad, don't worry.'' He reinforced the statement with a light peck on the cheek. ''Just remember what I told you. Make people accept you the way you are. Prove them wrong; work hard and show them what you can do. You'll see, they'll all want to be your friend.'' Naruto's eyes were tearing up, but they were also very determined. It was a very endearing sight.

''Alright, let's get you back to bed.''

OoOoO

The following weeks had been hard, but had paid off in the end. Naruto got some more teasing from the other kids because of his new hair colour, but Naruto managed to control himself. It also helped that Kushina and Minato had talked to the other kids' parents without their children knowing and had agreed to take remedial steps if the teasing got worse.

It turned out that teaching Naruto some basic seals worked wonders. Slowly but surely, Naruto's creative mind drank on the intricate patterns of the seals and old ideograms. Naruto always became excited and uncommonly motivated when Kushina made little demonstrations of how the seals worked too. In two months, Naruto went from the bottom of his class to the very top.

Soon, Naruto became so familiar with some of the seals that Kushina and Minato even made him try to activate the seals with his chakra. At first, his defective chakra control kept him from doing so. Ever the ingenious seal master, Kushina designed a chakra-recycling seal specifically for Naruto, which worked solely when activating low-level seals and was situated at the back of his neck. When Naruto used too much chakra, the seal would store it; and when he used too little, the seal activated itself and released some of the stored chakra. It worked wonderfully.

Minato and Kushina might have gotten a little too permissive though, considering Naruto's character, because the little cunning thing started using those seals to pull pranks at schools. It earned him a good scolding and no ramen for a month (it could be dangerous, after all!), but it also gained him the childish respect and admiration of the other kids in his class.

Naruto's sudden progress with seals didn't go unnoticed by the teachers at the academy, of course, and rumours went all the way to the clan leader's ears.

One sunny afternoon, master Hiroto invited himself to tea at the Uzumaki-Namikaze house under the pretence of catching up on the little family. Well, it was true, but it was only part of the reason he came.

''Would you mind if I tested Naruto-chan's knowledge of seals? It won't take long.'' The aged man asked kindly. The young couple exchanged a surprised look, but agreed immediately.

''Of course, he's playing in his room. I'll go get him.'' Minato said, rising from his seat.

''Where's your sandbox, Kushina-chan?''

''Ah, this way.'' Kushina smiled politely and led him into a small anteroom just beside the backyard and garden.

The master sat in front of the small sand box and waited patiently for the two blonds to arrive.

''Hello, Hiro-jiji-sama!'' Naruto greeted excitedly, sitting beside the old man. His parents sweatdropped at Naruto's attempt at respect, but the clan leader simply chuckled and grabbed the long wooden stick beside the sandbox.

''Hello, Naruto-chan. I just want to ask you some questions.'' Naruto nodded. The wise old man quickly carved out a simple seal in the sand.

''Do you know this seal, Naruto-chan?'' Naruto nodded again, more firmly this time.

''Yeah! It's a locking seal. I used it to lock all the boy's bathrooms at the academy.'' Naruto snickered mischievously at the memory. Kushina face palmed. Hiroto didn't seem to mind though; he simply smiled and rubbed the sand smooth with a sort of wooden broom. He carved in a new seal.

''This one?''

''Ah, I know this one too! It's a storing seal.'' Naruto didn't hesitate to give the answer; it was one of the most common ones.

''And this one?'' Naruto furrowed his eyebrows tightly together, eyes becoming thin like they usually did when concentrating hard. He turned to his mother.

''Mommy, isn't that like the seal you put on me?'' Kushina's jaw dropped, genuinely impressed Naruto even remembered what it looked like. She had drawn the chakra recycling seal and explained it quickly to him before putting it on him. It wasn't exactly the same, since Kushina had adapted it, but it was a chakra-recycling seal nonetheless. Minato, sitting on the side, seemed equally impressed.

''Yes it is! Very good, honey!'' Kushina praised. Hiroto nodded in approval. He rubbed the sand smooth again and carved a more complex seal.

''How about this one?'' Hiroto's voice was deep, but gentle. Somehow, it made Naruto feel at ease. His expression turned pensive again. He stroked his chin almost comically, then shook his head.

''I don't know this one. What is it?''

''Why don't you try to guess? What are the Kobun characters that you know in this seal?''

''Well...'' He extended his small arm and pointed at one of the characters. ''This one is means 'Earth'... and this one is like... 'strong' I think... And I don't know the other one.''

''Very good. The last one means 'bind'. Can you guess what it's used for based on this?''

Naruto scratched his head, brows tighter in concentration. After a short internal debate, he exposed his theory.

''Is it like, you're tied up to the ground? And you can't move?'' The three adults exchanged an amused look. The kid wasn't far from the truth; after all Naruto was too young to know the concept of gravity.

''Something like that. It's used in physical training.'' Hiroto tried to explain in simple terms the child could understand. ''If I put this seal on my legs, they will become very heavy. Trying to walk or run becomes hard, but you get stronger with practice and move more easily. It's exactly like using weights, but seals are a lot more practical and almost limitless. I'll show you. Get up on your feet, please.'' Naruto instantly obeyed. He was always up for a little demonstration. Hiroto applied the seal, using only his chakra to inscribe it.

''Try to move your right foot.''

''I can't move it! Woah!'' Naruto moved his left, then tried his right again with all his strength, but it stayed firmly on the ground. ''This is so cool! Teach me, teach me!''

''Please.'' Kushina corrected instinctively.

''Please!'' Naruto added. Hiroto chuckled and ruffled the little guy's hair.

''I'll teach you when you're older, okay?'' Naruto was getting tired of being told that, but he didn't let his excitement falter.

''I can't wait to be older!'' He punched the air with determination. Hiroto chuckled and rose from the ground and looked at the boy's parents.

''If you consent to it, I would like you and Naruto to join my weekly tutoring sessions.'' Minato blinked in confusion and looked at his wife for answers. Her wife's eyes were literally sparkling with happiness.

''Really?! What an honour! And Naruto is so young. Thank you so much, Hiroto-sama!'' Kushina bowed deeply, full of gratitude. Minato awkwardly did the same. He didn't know what this was all about, but he didn't want to seem ungrateful.

''Yes, thank you!'' He said hurriedly. _Guess I'll be learning something new again_, Minato thought. Naruto just looked at all three of them, blinking cutely.

The adults settled the day and time on which the weekly meetings would take place. The clan leader stayed for a bit more tea and small talk, then left. Kushina then proceeded to explain what the tutoring sessions were to her two favourite blonds.

Uzumaki Hiroto always made it a point to keep clan traditions alive, one of them being the tutoring sessions conducted by the clan leader himself. The clan leader, since generations before, would select promising children from the clan and meet them every week for one hour. The clan leader usually chose his pupils around age six so they were mostly done learning the Kobun, but apparently Naruto was among the few younger students the man had taken in during his long life. In the Uzumaki clan, it was considered vital for the leader to keep track of the clan's talented children and share with them their extensive knowledge and offer them guidance.

Needless to say, the two blonds were quite excited by the prospect.


	3. Chapter 2

**Canon vs DLB:** I've received some questions whether or not this story was going to be much like the canon, especially regarding the potential destruction of Uzushio. This chapter will hopefully answer some of your questions. I screwed some things around obviously for my story's needs _(i.e. Third War happened earlier let's say around Minato's teens, Minato develops his Hirashin later, etc.)_ and some events regarding Uzushio are blurry even in canon, so a lot of it is speculations and imagination on my part.

Nevertheless I hope you'll enjoy it! And thanks again for the reviews/fallows/favourites!

* * *

><p><strong>Don't Look Back<strong>

_One Amazing School Trip_

''So... is everything in order?'' Minato asked, trying his best not to let his childish impatience show. His wiggling toes were betraying him though; it was a bad habit he had developed whenever he was in a hurry.

''Hm... Let me just see if...'' The Chunin working at Mission Administration Office trailed off, looking through the scroll for what seemed like the gazillion time to Minato. Of course, after returning later than planed for a simple bodyguard mission, Minato had to end up checking out with the most uptight ninja on duty. After interminable minutes, the Chunin finally spoke up again.

''Yes, your report seems acceptable.'' Minato resisted the urge to snort at that. _More like impeccable!_ The Chunin handed him the discharge paper to sign. ''Just sign this and you're good to go.''

Minato honestly never before botched his signature like he just did now. He handed the paper back to the desk worker.

''Thank-'' The Chunin was left speechless when as soon as his fingers grabbed onto the paper, the Jounin had left in a flash, leaving some papers on the desk flying from the gust of wind it created. The Chunin blinked.

''-you...'' He finished unconsciously. ''Wow...'' It was the first time he had seen the infamous Yellow Flash in action. It was quite impressive.

OoOoO

''I'm home!'' Minato said loudly as soon as he entered the house. _I hope Naruto isn't gone yet._ He thought as he quickly took off his sandals and hurried out of the entrance hall. _Hmm... I can sense two chakra signatures, so I guess not. _

''Glad you could make it in time.'' Nadeko, Kushina's mother, smiled when she saw her son-in-law in the hallway.

''Yeah.'' Minaot smiled politely. ''Thanks again for looking after Naruto, Nadeko-sensei.'' He bowed lightly to his old fuinjutsu mentor.

''How many times have I told you to drop the 'sensei' already? We're family, for god's sake!'' Nadeko scolded, shaking her head half-amused, half-exasperated.

''About a hundred times?'' He replied cockily. Nadeko chuckled at her son-in-law's antics.

''Naruto's getting ready upstairs. I just kissed him goodbye, so I'll be going now.'' She informed him, making her way towards the door. Minato turned to watch her leave.

''You're not coming to the tutoring session?''

''Nah.'' Nadeko waved her hand dismissively, not even looking back at him. ''There's only so much of Hiroto I can stand.'' Minato snickered to himself at that. Despite the rather large age difference, it was clear that the old lady had a thing for the clan leader. Both had been left widow and widower since the Third War. However Nadeko, who like Kushina was rather proud and obstinate, would rather die than admit her crush. She knew it was one-sided anyway. It reminded Minato of Jiraiya and Tsunade's own situation.

''Alright, thanks again!'' Minato called out as Nadeko exited the house. He turned towards the stairs and wasted no time to quickly check up on Naruto, who let out a loud and happy 'welcome back!' before Minato got himself ready as well for the tutoring session.

Once he entered his and Kushina's bedroom, he instantly took off his clothes and threw them on the ground. _Kushina would kick my ass for doing that if she was here._ He opened his wardrobe and took out the Uzumaki clan's traditional ninja wear. It was a simple black 3-piece set: a large-sleeved kimono going down mid-thigh with the Uzumaki symbol embroidered on the shoulders, three-quarter pants and sandals which went a little higher on the shin than standard models. In times of war, the suit was accompanied with grey leather armours that were worn over the kit. However, in peaceful events like the tutoring sessions, the Uzumakis instead wore a large black obi tied at the back and plated at the front. On the metal plate was, of course, the Uzumaki symbol. They loved to plaster it everywhere they could.

Putting on the suit made him think about Nadeko and Hiroto again. He remembered the scene Naruto's grandmother had created last time she accompanied Naruto to the session while both Minato and Kushina had been out on missions. She had showed up in her usual clothes and Hiroto had been insulted and had let her know. _''You're too damn uptight! I'm not gonna dress up for some senile old man studying fuinjutsu with kids! Who do you think you are?''_ Naruto had made the most comical yet disturbingly accurate imitation of his grandmother when he told his parents that story. Minato and Kushina had nearly pissed themselves laughing. Hiroto, though without a doubt a great leader, was extremely conservative. Nadeko, on the other hand, did whatever the hell she wanted and certainly didn't go overboard with clan traditions. Needless to say, that had clashed into epic fights in the past.

''Come on dad. I want to show you something before we go.'' Minato found Naruto waiting for him outside of his bedroom, also dressed up in his clan's gears. The little seven-year-old grabbed his dad's hand into his own and dragged him into the kitchen. He pointed towards the table, where Minato found a few sheets of paper. One of them was Naruto's mid-term report card (which he would examine closer later, though he wasn't worried about his son's results) and another was a parental consent form for a school trip.

''Can I go? It looks really awesome! We're actually going outside of the village and we'll go all the way to Konoha, you know? That's where you come form, right dad? I'm so excited!'' Naruto's enthusiastic outburst elicited both an amused chuckle and genuine interest on Minato's part. ''Plus, they say they want a couple of parents to come as accompanying adults. Would you like to come?'' That certainly increased Minato's interest.

''All the way to Konoha, huh? Yeah, I'd love to go with you. I'll ask for a break from missions. It's been a while since I've gone to my native village.'' _Two years to be exact, since my last mission in collaboration with Konoha nins. _

''Wahoo!'' Naruto cheered, literally jumping with happiness.

With this new information, Minato quickly scanned the sheet again for more details. All three groups of grade two students, along with their homeroom sensei, would leave for this trip, lasting eight days in total. They would leave early from school about three weeks from now and visit some memorials and shrines within and around Uzushio to learn about their history and culture. On their way to Konoha, they would go through a little survival training in the forest. They would then visit the infamous Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple located in the outskirts of Konoha before spending three days in the village.

''That sounds like a very interesting trip.'' Minato said, pretty impressed by the schedule attached to the consent form. It wasn't a cheap school trip, but considering all the stuff they'd be doing and how long they'd be gone, the price was actually pretty reasonable.

''Yeah.'' Naruto smiled at his dad. Minato eagerly returned it, then he was reminded of the time. He looked up at the clock on the wall.

''Shoot! We gotta go Naruto. I'll sign this later.'' Before Naruto even had the time to utter a syllable, Minato gathered him up in his arms and used his Hirashin jutsu to get to master Hiroto's home. Putting his seal about everywhere in the village had been one of the best ideas he's had lately.

Once inside the study room, he put down Naruto who hurried to kneel in seiza beside his dear cousin Karin. The two greeted each other with their usual happy chatter; the two considered each other siblings, since didn't have any of their own. Like Naruto, Karin had started the tutoring almost two years ago. It seemed appropriate to have them tutored at the same time.

Minato greeted master Hiroto and Nanami, Karin's mother, and her husband politely and apologized for being late. He took his usual spot with Nanami and her husband on the side of the large sandbox in the room, opposite to their children, while Hiroto was at the far extremity of the rectangular sandbox. Once properly seated in seiza, Minato did like everyone else in the room and hid his hands within the sleeves of his kimono, as was customary in the clan.

''Look what my mom brought, Naru-chan.'' Said Karin who had recently turned nine years old. She turned to reach for a small basket. She took out the small piece of fabric and a delicious smell filled the room. Inside were homemade cookies made from a combination of vanilla and chocolate dough. They were rolled and cooked together to form a swirl, like the Uzumaki symbol.

''It smells really good. Thanks, auntie Nana!''

''You're welcome, Naruto-chan!'' Nanami almost squealed. Minato and his brother-in-law exchanged a look only_ they_ could understand. Nanami and Kushina liked to go on about how their kids were the cutest in the entire frigging universe. The two sisters could literally spend hours sharing anecdotes about their respective child. Their husbands, poor souls, had to endure their frenzy.

''Feel free to get yourselves some refreshments, as usual.'' Hiroto told the children with a caring smile. He gestured towards the low table against the wall on which tea, milk, and other refreshments were placed.

''Today's seal,'' Master Hiroto started once everyone was ready. ''will be an absorption seal.'' He took the wooden stick in his hand and gracefully carved in the seal. ''It is used both as a defence and attack seal in battle. It is meant to have the opponent's attacks backfire at them.''

The two children listened attentively to their respected tutor, under the proud eyes of their parents.

OoOoO

The morning of the school trip, Naruto was beside himself with excitement. He woke up way earlier than necessary; Kushina literally had to order him to go back to bed for at least another hour. Kushina was not a morning person. She'd do pretty much anything for even just a few more blessed minutes of sleep. Not even her precious son's cheerful wake up call could convince her to get out of bed. Naruto was really a handful to deal with sometimes.

At a more reasonable hour, the little family got ready for the day. After a hearty breakfast, Minato and Naruto got dressed and gathered their things for their trip, while Kushina got ready for her mission.

''Uhg...'' Kushina sighed dramatically, looking at her two favourite boys. Minato wore his standard Jounin uniform and Uzushio forehead protector, while Naruto was in his traditional black clan gears (the required dress code for the outing). ''I would have much preferred to go with you guys.'' She mock-sniffled as she hugged her son, then kissed her husband goodbye.

''Be safe, mom.'' Naruto told his mother with the unusually soft tone he always had when one of his parents left on mission. Kushina fought the urge to squeal and hug him again.

''You too, honey. Listen to your dad and teachers.''

''I will!'' And the family parted ways.

Once at the academy, Naruto and his father joined the group of children and adults already waiting outside. All children, as instructed, also wore their clan's standard black gears. Since they would make an official visit to Konoha and meet their Hokage, the Uzushio Academy teachers thought it was best to keep a certain degree of decorum. Once everyone had arrived and the last details were settled, the group, led by Uzumaki Risa, Naruto's homeroom teacher, started their little journey.

Their first stop was at the village's Great Temple of Seals, which most students had already seen during their clans' various ceremonies or rites. Risa reviewed some of them with the children, as well as the history behind the temple, its artefacts and the reason for its foundation. Uzumaki Shagun, also the founder of the village, had it built in memory of her fallen comrades during their long journey here. The ancestors of Uzushiogakure had been a group of northern nomad tribes who had endured many battles and hardships before deciding to settle down on the island. Their foreign origin was what was believed to be the explanation for their unusually long lifespan.

The next stop was the village's Gallery of Heroes, situated in the biggest public park of Uzushio. It constituted in two rows of granite sculptures of important figures of the village facing each other. Among them was Uzumaki Mito herself as the first Jinshuuriki of the Ninetails and one of the greatest Fuinjutsu Masters. Again, one of the teachers in charge proceeded to lecture the students on each of the important figures.

They then moved on to the cemetery where a large commemorative shrine was built. Within it, large carved stoned stood tall for each of the tragedy the village suffered through, including all three shinobi wars and another particular event.

''Can one of you tell me why you think this shrine was built several years after the Second War?'' Seiwa Kenichi-sensei, a member of the village's second most important clan, asked the students before him. He was this year's weapons instructor; unsurprising considering the clan was notorious not only for their seals, but also for their prowess with the wakizashi.

Much to Minato's surprise, Naruto was among the students who had their hands up to answer the question. Knowing Naruto, and also basing himself from his report cards, Minato knew he wasn't very interested in the more 'intellectual' courses such as history and culture.

''Naruto-kun?''

''I think it was because of the invasion.'' Ever the eloquent speaker, Naruto proceeded to explain the event in his own colourful terms. ''Hidden Mist and Hidden Rock ganged up on us because we were still weak, and low on active ninjas from the Second War. They figured they could get vengeance for kicking their butts during the war, you know? It was tough, but we ended up kicking their butts along with Konoha again big time!''

Minato scratched his head sheepishly at Naruto's simplified and childish retelling of the attempted invasion. Still, he was pretty impressed Naruto got the gist right.

''That's right, Naruto-kun.'' Kenichi nodded with his usual straight face, long since immune to Naruto's flamboyant personality. ''And can you tell me how we managed to defeat them?'' Minato looked down at his son, curious to see if he would get that right too.

''Yeah! It was because of our super special Barrier Seals!'' Minato smiled.

''Very good. Some of the enemy ninjas managed to enter our village, but we were quick to activate our Barrier Seals, keeping the rest out of our village, but also keeping us in. We fought off those who were in, but the ones outside outnumbered us. So we went into siege for… Actually, do any of you remember for how long the siege went on?'' Another few kids raised their hands.

''One month!'' One student cried out.

''Exact.'' Kenichi continued. ''We were not prepared for such a long siege and since we live on an island, we were cut off from our supplies. Iwagakure and Kirigakure thought they would defeat us like this, but that was not the case. Do you remember what happened next?''

''We got help from Konoha.'' One kid said.

''How? It was a secret invasion. We couldn't contact Konoha, because we were prisoners in our own village, right?'' When no kids seemed able to give the answer, Kenichi went on. ''During the siege, we managed to dig a tunnel without being detected. We sent a small squad to Konoha to get help. It took some time before the reinforcements arrived; by then, we couldn't keep our Barrier activated. Many of our ninjas died of chakra exhaustion form keeping the barriers active. Fortunately, the reinforcements arrived before we sustained too much damage. The shrine was built in memory of those who defended our village.''

''Does the tunnel still exist?''

''No.'' Kenichi explained. ''We destroyed it soon after the battle.''

OoOoO

After a full busy day around the village, the students moved into the forest after a short lecture about the whirlpools in the surrounding rivers of the island. Once there, they settled camp and sat in front of one of their teachers who led a discussion on what was learned today. The kids were set free to do what they liked; they mostly told each other scary stories around the fire before they went to sleep. Tents had been set up with groups of five children plus one adult in each one. It made Minato feel incredibly nostalgic; it had been a while since Naruto had slept snuggled up against him like this.

The next day was the start of their three-day survival training. Each day before they reached Konoha, the children would have certain challenges to face, all of which were meant to assess their skills, but also their ability to cooperate with others. They didn't mention the last part to the students though. The teachers and accompanying adults were distributed among the groups; their role was to stay hidden in order to take notes on their performance and to only intervene if a student's life was in danger.

Minato was a little disappointed when he was assigned to a group in which his son didn't belong, but he wasn't surprised either. Teachers probably wanted to avoid bias. Minato was still curious to know how Naruto would fair.

During the first day, the students were not allowed to use their rationed food; they were given a scroll with information about the fauna around the village and their mission was to survive and find edible food and water in the forest.

''You will be tested on this when we're back to school.'' Risa had informed them, earning loud whines from the kids. ''When you'll be an active ninja on mission, you probably won't have a scroll that tells you what you can or can't eat. The info's gotta be in you head, folks!''

At the end of the day, Minato found Naruto's skin tone slightly greener than it should.

''I guess we'll have to review those together at home.'' Minato told his son. The older blond rubbed his child's back while the latter drank some water to dilute the harmless poison.

The second day, teachers had set booty traps about everywhere in their vicinity during the night. The aim of the traps was to slow the kids down; they were given a scroll containing fictional secret information to deliver within a certain time frame. If they didn't reach their destination in time, the scroll would deteriorate itself.

At the end of the day, Minato found his son with many bruises which seemed caused by rope burns and falls.

''I bet you just jumped ahead without thinking, right Naruto?'' Minato sighed, a little exasperated as he treated the wounds. Naruto was having the hardest time learning how to think before taking action.

''Well, it's not my fault one of my teammates just spent so much time looking around for traps! I was scarred the scroll would expire, you know?''

''And how is getting yourself caught into traps going to help your team move faster?'' Naruto looked down on the ground, suddenly feeling ashamed.

''Good job, Uzumaki.'' Naruto's overly careful teammate spit out sarcastically. ''Thanks to you, we didn't get to the teachers in time. We failed!'' Minato frowned at that and almost intervened, but decided to let his son have the chance to defend himself.

''I'm sorry...'' Minato was completely taken aback by Naruto's submissive reply. He thought Naruto would jump up and argue his point like he always did.

''I don't think this is worth looking for a fight, kid. You are all here to make mistakes and learn.'' Minato told the kid. Naruto maybe hadn't acted in the most... sensible manner, but he certainly didn't deserve to be treated like this. Naruto was always respectful of others in his own clumsy way, so he deserved much the same respect at least.

''Whatever!'' The kid stormed off, clearly looking pissed. Naruto still looked chastised. Minato didn't like to see Naruto like that. He really didn't.

If the two previous days had showed Minato that his son still had a long way to go, the third one reminded him how _proud_ he was of his son and how much of a great ninja he would become.

The teachers had placed seals on various body parts on the children that caused paralysis. It was meant to simulate injury, tough without inflicting pain on the children. Each team was to find three hidden scrolls and bring them to the teacher waiting for them at the meeting point, which was a few kilometres away from Konoha.

Some children had worse paralysis than others, some were lucky and didn't have the seals at all. In Naruto's case, he couldn't use his left arm.

What Minato saw at the end of the day made him grin broadly. Not only had his son's team found all three scrolls in time, but they had all made it together. Some other teams had made disastrous choices; leaving 'heavily injured' teammates behind to find the scrolls. Other teams, like Minato's assigned one, had spent so much time arguing about which of them was the most useless that they hadn't found any of the scrolls. However, Naruto's team had performed their mission flawlessly. Minato found out through his son's assigned watcher that Naruto had refused to let anyone behind. He had carried the same kid he had a fight with yesterday almost the entire mission, since he was paralysed in both legs. All members had used their strengths to their advantages to accomplish the mission. It must have been hard on the Uzumaki pride for Naruto to help the kid like he did. Then again, Naruto was such a stickler for principles for a child his age, it wasn't all that surprising. It still made Minato damn proud.

''Alright, you've done well these past three days. I'm proud of you all. But I think today's winning team deserves a little reward.'' Risa exclaimed as one other teacher took out a storage scroll and activated it. A little box of candies poofed out of it. Kenichi distributed them among Naruto's team, while the other kids whined or stared with their mouth watering.

''They're so lucky!'' One kid said.

''How come they get some, but we don't? We won yesterday's challenge!''

As some kids complained and others simply pouted, Naruto looked down at the candies in his hands, then his teammates, then the others.

''Wait guys, listen!'' Naruto said out loud, catching all the kids' attention, even stopping some from unwrapping a candy. Naruto blushed slightly, then looked back down at his candies.

''If we keep just one candy and give out the rest,'' Naruto explained to his teammates. ''then everyone gets a candy!'' To prove his point, Naruto gave out all but one of his candies. Everyone was quiet. Naruto's teammates exchanged some looks. One seemed particularly reluctant to share his candies, but he still thought it would be fairer that way. And he didn't want to look selfish compared to Naruto, so everyone followed the blond's example.

''Awesome!''

''Thanks a lot, Naruto!'' The kids went on exclaiming their happiness, and that made Naruto's team feel good. It made Minato even more proud. His son was the best! Then, all the kids' attention was brought back to the teachers who had suddenly started to clap their hands.

''Congratulation! That was actually the final challenge. And thanks to Naruto, your team passed. If we all respect and care for each other, our village will be stronger. We can't fight enemies if we fight among ourselves, remember that folks! So...'' Risa opened a storage scroll of her own. This time, an enormous basket full of other treats appeared. ''To congratulate you on your efforts these past three days, _everyone_ will get treats!''

The kids literally went _wild_ with joy as they proceeded to gather around the basket to get some more treats. Minato, sitting on the ground against a tree, looked on the scene with nostalgic eyes. It was good to be young and carefree. Soon enough, Naruto joined him and sat beside him, hands full of treats.

''Today was the best!'' Minato grinned and ruffled his son's hair affectionately.

''You did very well today, Naruto-chan.''

''Oh, look dad.'' Naruto handed him out a little plastic-wrapped cake. ''There were some lemon cakes in the basket. I got one for you. They're your favourite, right?''

''Thank you.'' Minato smiled, resisting the urge to hug his son tight. He knew Naruto would protest and say it's embarrassing in front of his classmates. _But he's just so cute!_

''Hey, Uzumaki.'' It was that kid from yesterday again. Though this time, the boy wasn't meeting Naruto's eyes. He looked like he was embarrassed. _Ha! Serves you right for treating Naru-chan like that._ Minato couldn't help but think. That was definitely Kushina's influence on him.

''Thanks for today.'' The kid admitted in a quiet voice, kicking the ground distractingly.

''No problem!'' Naruto replied cheerfully. ''Without your detection skills, we never would have found the scrolls, you know?'' The kid looked at Naruto with wide eyes. He thought for sure Naruto would jump on the occasion to nag at him as revenge for yesterday. Minato could tell. _Well kid, my Naruto isn't like that._ The kid smiled.

''But I wouldn't have found them if you hadn't carried me around.''

''Turns out we make a good team!''

''Yeah.'' The kid's smile widened.

OoOoO

The group set out for the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple first thing in the morning. It was a very impressive building with a myriad of Oni Masks plastered on the walls inside the temple. Each mask had a special meaning or story behind it, and some even had powerful seals within them that could accomplish great things. One even invoked the Shinigami itself. That had impressed the kids like nothing else. The temple was protected at all times by an intricate locking seal that only few of the Uzumakis (that included Risa) could open. Risa reminded them of how lucky they were and how much of an honour it was for them to see it with their own eyes.

They arrived in Konoha early in the afternoon. They were welcomed by two Jounins which were none other than Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi. On their way to the Hokage Tower, the kids marvelled at the size of the village and started comparing it with Uzushio.

''Wow... It's so huge!'' Naruto told his father as he looked around him. The buildings weren't as tall as in Uzushio, but he could still tell that the village was at least three times the size of his native village. ''And is that the Hokage Mountain?'' The class had reviewed the history of Konoha before going on their trip. ''It's a lot bigger than I thought too.''

''Yup, that's it.'' Minato smiled. He was happy he could be there for the first time his son visited the village.

''That's right, your dad's from Konoha.'' Yui, a new friend of Naruto's, said in her usual soft voice. ''Mister, which one is the one we will meet again?''

''The last one on the right; Lord Third. He looks older now, though.''

They were greeted at the Hokage Tower by a young Chunin working at the welcoming desk. Said Chunin made the kids visit the tower, then guided them all the way to the top in the Hokage's office. The kids looked in awe at the old man in his Hokage robes smoking his pipe.

Sarutobi introduced himself to the kids and questioned them about what they knew about the Kage-system and the history of Konoha. The Third hadn't been surnamed The Professor for nothing. The kids listened attentively as the old man told his stories and educated them about the village and their special relationship with Uzushio, tracing the history all the way back to the First Hokage.

Their three-day expedition would forever be burnt into the kids' memory. In between educational activities, the teacher had organized a few surprises like a trip to the natural hot springs (which they didn't have in Uzushio) and even went to the movies one night. They also slept at the hotel, which was way more comfortable than tents. In their free time, mostly during the evening, Minato would take that opportunity to take Naruto out for his own personalized tour of the village as well as to meet up with Kakashi. Naruto had missed him; it had been a while since his last visit.

On the last day in Konoha, the teachers had another special event planned out for them.

''Where are we going next, Kenichi-sensei?'' One kid asked as they walked about in the village. The weapons instructed pointed towards a large building in front of them.

''Konoha's Ninja Academy.''

''What?'' Some kids exclaimed.

''I hope we won't have lessons!'' Another said aloud, earning some chuckles from the adults.

Rather than going inside the building, as the kids and the accompanying parents expected, they went straight to the training ground where another group of kids were practicing taijutsu.

''Okay kids, take a break! Let's meet our special guests I mentioned earlier.'' A young browned haired, bronze-skinned academy teacher said. The man had a large scar going across his nose, which didn't fail to catch the Uzushio kids' curiosity. The Konoha kids gathered up behind their sensei, who went and greeted Risa.

''Welcome to our humble academy, Uzumaki-san.''

''Thanks for having us, Umino-san.'' Iruka smiled at the instructor, then looked at his guest's students.

''Oh, I thought your group was also in grade 2.'' Iruka said in a whisper, slightly confused. He was pretty sure he had read the letter right though.

''They are.'' Risa confirmed with a wink. ''We just grow a little slower in our village.''

''Right!'' Realization dawned on Iruka. Minato, too, suddenly noticed the difference. He was so used to living in Uzushiogakure that all kids looked like they were aging normally to him. But now that he could compare them to Konoha's seven-year-olds, it was true that the Uzushio kids looked around a year younger. _Uh... That's really interesting._ Minato mused.

''Alright guys. I want you to welcome Uzumaki-san's group of students from Uzushiogakure. As you know, they've been faithful allies of ours since the founding of Konoha. Don't judge them on their appearance; they're the same age as you!'' Iruka's students shared excited whispers among themselves.

''So what do you say, Umino-san? Your strongest student against mine?'' Risa challenged with her signature cocky attitude. Iruka's smile widened.

''Great idea!'' All the kids from both villages cheered out in excitement. Feelings of pride and competition enveloped the atmosphere around them.

Iruka used a simple Doton jutsu to heighten the ground floor into a circular arena, much like a standard Sumo wrestling rink.

''The rules will be simple.'' Iruka started, using his teacher voice. ''No fatal injuries allowed. The spar will last five minutes. To win, you must either knock out your opponent or throw him out of the rink. Understood?''

''Yes!'' All kids said at the same time.

''Good.'' Iruka smiled again. ''Sasuke, come on up.'' All the girls in Sasuke's class, and even some from Uzushio, fawned over their favourite prince. Sasuke smirked and went to take his spot on the rink, as confident as usual.

''An Uchiha, huh? Alright.'' Risa looked at her students who were all fidgeting with suspense and excitement. Who would she choose? ''Uzumaki Naruto, I'm counting on you!'' Naruto was dumbfounded, much like his father, but his surprise instantly switched to sheer thrill. He jumped up from the ground where everyone had sat. He took his own spot in front of Sasuke, hands neatly folded in his large black sleeve, showing off his Uzumaki heritage.

''Alright, please pay your respect before you begin.'' Iruka instructed. While the two did so, Minato moved beside Risa.

''Naruto's the strongest fighter in his year?'' Minato asked, incredulous. His son's report card had some impressive grades, but there was plenty of room for improvement in some of the subjects. The training in the forest had attested to that.

''Well...'' Risa started with a kind of awkward smile that said that, indeed, Naruto wasn't quite exactly the rookie of the year. ''He could use some refinement in his technique and he's not the best tactician at first glance...'' Risa turned her gaze from the rink to look at Minato directly. ''But really, Minato-san, your kid never fails to blow my mind during spars. Have you even seen him fight? He's got the craziest, yet smartest ideas that he just seems to pull right out of his ass-I mean, hat! Oops. Pardon my language.'' Minato burst out in laughter. That certainly sounded like his Naruto. Of course, Minato regularly trained with his son, but he had never seen him fight a kid of his age and ability level. ''He's by far the strongest in fuinjutsu in his whole year. Possibly even more than grade 3 and 4 students. I'm really curious to see how his seal mastery will fair against Konoha's infamous Uchiha prodigies.'' Minato could only agree. He looked forward to the fight as well.

''Let's have a good fight!'' Naruto said to his opponent cheerfully, a wide smile plastered on his face.

''Yeah.'' The Uchiha nodded with a much more modest, yet still honest smile of his own. Sasuke was happy he was facing an Uzumaki. He had heard about them in Iruka's lesson in preparation to their visit, and even from his father. The blond looked a little goofy in Sasuke's eyes, but if his sensei had called him in, he wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating him.

''Get back in your positions please.'' Iruka told the two young ninjas, who proceeded to go back at the far extremities of the rink.

''Get ready.'' The two boys went into a fighting stance.

''Go!'' The kids broke into cheers of encouragement for their respective village representative.

Naruto sprinted right off the side of the rink and jumped high up in the air. Surprised by such a quick first move, Sasuke prepared himself to counter what looked to be a strong kick. He was even more surprised, however, to see Naruto's feet landing firmly on the ground right in the centre of the rink. As soon as the small feet touched the ground, the blond boy let out a loud battle cry. Chakra ink invaded the rink in five straight branches stretching out to the extremities of the rink. A chakra-infused wall surrounded the rink a fraction of an instant, before disappearing completely. Naruto went back into a fighting stance, a wide cocky grin on his lips.

''What?'' Sasuke breathed out, not understanding what the blond just did. For good measures, the Uchiha threw a shuriken behind him. Nothing happened; the shuriken simply planted itself in a tree not far from the arena.

''We don't have all day, you know?'' Naruto said in a challenging tone.

''That kid.'' Risa said, laughing to herself. ''He's just like his mother.'' Minato, again, could only nod in agreement.

''Hn.'' The raven snorted then sprinted forward and the two used taijutsu to fight. Sasuke had the upper hand, it seemed. After a few series of punches and kicks, which Naruto had managed to counter by a hair, Sasuke finally grabbed him and threw him away with reasonable ease, considering Naruto's height and weight.

''Woah!'' Naruto cried out as he was propelled in the air. He made a quick hand sing and, much to the Konoha nins' astonishment, Naruto's feet landed on the chakra-walls that had just reappeared. With impressive ease, Naruto pushed back against the chakra-wall and landed on the rink. The wall disappeared behind him.

''So Sasuke-kun won't be able to push Naruto-kun out of the rink. The Uzumaki's Fuinjutsu really is impressive. And the kid's so young...'' Iruka said, right standing beside Risa and Minato.

''This is just the beginning.'' Risa replied smugly. Minato laughed awkwardly at the teacher's shameless attitude. That caught Iruka's attention. He looked back and forth between the blond child and the older one.

''Is he your son, sir?'' Iruka asked.

''He is!'' Minato grinned broadly; he couldn't help this feeling of pride.

''He's good!''

''Hn. You might have that fancy wall of yours, but you're too slow to beat me.'' Sasuke said as payback for Naruto's earlier comment.

''We'll see about that.'' Naruto replied as he pushed back his sleeves on his arms. He did a simple hand sing. ''Release!'' He cried out. Suddenly, markings on his wrists and shins glowed blue before fading out completely. Naruto went back into his fighting stance, and Sasuke wasted no time to engage him in some taijutsu again.

''He's a lot faster now.'' One konoha girl exclaimed. ''He's as fast as Sasuke-kun! Unbelievable!'' Sasuke didn't look very happy about the new turn of event, but he wasn't about to let that get to him. After more kicks and punches, the two seven-year-olds drew back away from each other to catch their breath.

''Not bad.'' Sasuke said in a mocking tone.

''Same for you.'' Naruto grinned.

''I guess I'll use the new jutsu aniki taught me.'' The raven whispered to himself with determination. He performed a quick series of hand signs and drew in a deep breath. ''Katon: Fireball Jutsu!'' Everyone gasped when they saw the huge fireball flying fast towards Naruto. Minato was ready to intervene at any moment. _It's too big, there's no way Naruto can just dodge it!_ He thought, panicked.

With a determined look in his eyes, Naruto extended his arm towards the great fireball, palm standing straight. He grabbed his wrist with his other hand from which chakra ink flowed freely. A seal formed itself within the palm of his extended hand. _Is he actually gonna...?_ Minato wondered.

Just as Minato thought, the fireball was completely absorbed into his son's palm, not leaving a trace of its existence behind and not leaving a single burn mark on Naruto's skin. Minato let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. Risa did the same beside him.

''Did Hiroto-sama teach him that? Cause I know I didn't.'' She asked, not taking her eyes off the rink. She was quite honestly dumbfounded by what her pupil had just done. Everyone else around her was equally amazed, including the young raven.

''How-?!'' Sasuke didn't get to finish his question as Naruto launched at him with a kick, which he barely avoided. Naruto didn't waste another second; he turned toward the raven and performed a quick head seal.

''Release!'' Naruto said aloud. He tensed his arms on each side of his body, opened his mouth wide and spit fire out like a dragon. A huge fireball, the same Sasuke had just thrown at him, flew out, aimed right at its original summoner.

Out of options, Sasuke used kawarimi to avoid the attack and appeared a little behind Naruto. It had been such a close call that the tip of his blue sleeve had caught fire. He quickly tapped it to put the fire out, then glared at his opponent. Still panting from the rather complex fuinjutsu he had just performed, Naruto saw that the raven had taken out a kunai from his pocket. Naruto leaped a few steps further away and crossed his index and middle fingers together.

''Kage Bunshin!'' Three more Narutos appeared.

''Kage Bunshin?!'' Iruka repeated with disbelief.

''With our chakra reserves, Kage Bunchin is pretty much the only clone-type jutsu we can perform decently. It's taught in the academy in our village.'' Risa explained. Iruka was impressed to say the least.

The four of them ran around Sasuke, taking turns attacking the guy, who either kicked them away or made the clones disappear with his Kunai. _Hm, Naruto's buying time._ Minato thought. _He's probably running out of options and he knows the time's almost over. _

''Argh, if only I could use the Sharingan!'' Sasuke muttered under his breath as he dispersed yet another clone. ''Katon: Fire Bullets!'' Sasuke spit out a dozen of mini fire balls, effectively putting out Naruto's remaining clones.

''Kage Bunsin!'' Two other clones appeared at proceeded to attack Sasuke. The latter disposed of them; then was surprised by the shuriken that came right at him. Sasuke managed to dodge it, but it was a close call.

''Crap!'' Sasuke swore out loud when the shuriken poofed into the real Naruto high above him. It was a trap! He should have seen it coming; Naruto hadn't used any weapons so far.

''Gotcha!'' Naruto grinned as he finally managed to place a seal on Sasuke's dominant arm. The arm fell limp and dropped the Kunai. Though not without Naruto getting a deep cut into his thigh when the raven had turned around at the last minute to retaliate. Minato looked on with stupefaction. He didn't remember Naruto learning that particular seal neither at school nor at the tutoring session. Had he just picked it up from that training three days ago?!

''Ouch.'' Naruto winced sheepishly as he quickly placed a seal on it to stop the bleeding and numb the pain.

The two of them stood a few feet away from each other, panting and exhausted, but neither were about to give up. Getting ready to attack again, they were interrupted by Iruka's booming voice.

''Time's up! It's a tie!'' All the children and adults present clapped their hands

Naruto blinked then let out a heavy sigh of relief. He wiped a bit of sweat off his forehead, then walked up to his opponent, who was looking at him with an unreadable expression.

''You're really strong.'' Naruto beamed up at him, deactivating the seal he had put on Sasuke so he could use his arm again. Sasuke didn't say anything in reply; in fact he looked rather upset. No one, at least no one his age, had ever made him fight so hard. And considering their respective damages (he might have inflicted an injury on Naruto, but the short blond had taken care of it easily with one of his damn seals again) he didn't think it was actually a real tie. Naruto had the advantage.

''I hope you enjoyed the fight as much as I did.'' Naruto added good-naturally, hoping to get an answer out of his sparring partner.

''Hn...'' Sasuke looked away for a moment then, despite himself, he let the corner of his lip lift up. He looked at Naruto's clear blue eyes. It was hard to be mad at someone for being good and for being so genuinely friendly on top of that. Plus, now he only wanted to train harder. Maybe he had finally found a proper rival. ''Yeah, I did. I hope we can meet again soon and have a rematch.''

Naruto's eyes were literally shinning with happiness.

''Yeah!'' The kids got up and gathered around the two young fighters to congratulate them, while Iruka busily brought the improvised rink back into normal ground level.

''The way he uses seals...'' Risa said suddenly, bringing Minato out of his daze. He had been staring at his son without realizing. ''It's like it's nothing to him. He's fast with them... and believe me, it's really a feat considering the kids mastered chakra ink only recently. It's still a long process to convert the Kobun in their mind into the chakra ink and activate the seals for most of them. Naruto, though? He's got talent, that's for sure. The fight only made that even more clear to me.'' Minato couldn't think of anything to say. It wasn't the first time his son had rendered him speechless, but this was an entirely new kind of speechless.

''How about the paralysis seal?'' He said at last. ''Did you teach that in class? I don't think Hiroto-sama reviewed it with him.''

''No.'' Risa said, her expression still serious and focusing on the chatty blond on the rink. ''He must have studied it when he had it on himself. It's a simple enough seal, but it's still a wonder he got it so fast.''

''I see.'' Minato breathed out, looking back at Naruto as well. He hadn't even known the full extent of his own son's potential until now. He'd remedy to that once they were home.

OoOoO

''You would have been so proud of him, Kushina! He was amazing!'' Minato exclaimed with a dreamy look in his eyes, distractingly putting on his boots.

''Way to make me feel even more like crap, Namikaze!'' Kushina pouted childishly. She had just gotten back from her long mission only to find out that Naruto wasn't even at home. He was at her sister's place, spending time with Karin. Minato was currently getting prepared so they could go pick him up together. To make matters even worse, Minato went on about how _awesome_ her precious son had been during the trip. She couldn't believe she had missed that for a stupid mission. Life sucked.

''Let's go, already!'' She said impatiently. ''I want to see my baby. I'd rather hear all those tales from him, you know!'' Minato laughed shamelessly at her wife. That earned him one fiery glare. She opened the door wide and was about to literally storm off, when she caught sight of none other than master Hiroto coming their way. The old man quickened his pace when he saw her.

''Good, you're back!'' He said in a breathless tone. She exchanged a confused look with her husband. Neither had seen their leader this agitated in a long time. They silently gestured for him to get inside.

''I'm sorry to intrude like this.'' The man said, letting out a soft sigh.

''Not at all.'' Kushina said calmly, now very much sobered up. ''Is something the matter?'' Hiroto adverted his eyes for a second.

''Is Naruto around?'' He asked carefully.

''No, he's with his aunt.'' Minato supplied.

''Good. I don't want him to hear what I'm about to tell you.''

''Please, sit down.'' Kushina said hurriedly, not bothering to hide her nervousness. All three of them went into the room right beside the entry hall, where they sat on large cushions around a low table. Neither Minato nor Kushina offered tea; the situation didn't seem to call for it. Rather, they just waited for Hiroto to speak. Said man took out two letters from an inner pocket of his yukata and put them on the table.

''I received a letter from Lord Third, and another from your Sensei almost right after.'' Hiroto said, looking at Minato. ''Two weeks ago, the Uchiha clan was almost completely massacred.''

Kushina gasped and clasped her hand over her mouth in horror. Minato was equally shocked.

''Who...? Why?'' Minato couldn't even make out a complete sentence; too many questions bombarded his brain at the same time.

''The murderer is a member of the family itself. His name is Uchiha Itachi. He is now an S-class missing-nin. He only left one survivor behind; his little brother Uchiha Sasuke.'' Itahi... that had been the guy who had welcomed them along with Kakashi. To think that a man like him had been anywhere near his son and the other children sickened him... _And Uchiha Sasuke?_ Minato's eyes widened. _That's the very kid Naruto fought! I can't believe it..._

''How dreadful... how could this happen?'' Kushina shook her head in disbelief. This wasn't war... she hadn't heard of any domestic conflict happening in Konoha either... so why?

''There is more, I'm afraid.'' Hiroto continued solemnly, turning his gaze to Kushina. ''Jiraiya managed to follow his trace for a while and gather some information through his spy network. It seems the Uchiha joined a group called the Akatsuki. Looking at how fast he went from an outstanding Konoha ninja to member of the Akatsuki, he must have been plotting this for a long time.'' The old man took a short break; just sharing the information drained him.

''There have been some rumours about that group travelling around, but what Jiraiya sent Lord Third and I is very disturbing... For reasons still unknown, the Akatsuki is likely planning on gathering the Bijuus.''

Minato and Kushina exchanged yet another bewildered look. The blond took his wife's hand in his.

''For this reason, we ought to find more information about them... and also to be very careful. I will keep you updated. I haven't even communicated all this to the committee yet, but I couldn't wait until then to tell you, Kushina, since you're now directly involved in the affair.''

''This is terrible.'' Was all Kushina could say. Minato too, was at loss of words.

''Lord Third trusted me with this information and I am thankful, but he probably doesn't want the other villages to know, as not to look weak or unstable. Secrets never last long in ninja villages... but this is now S-classed. We will need to gather more information about the members and their strengths to find a way to fight them off, if they dare to come here to get the Kyuubi.''

Kushina hadn't seen that look in her leader's eyes since the Third War. She exchanged a look with her husband again, then both nodded.

''Understood.''


	4. Chapter 3

**I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!**

I've made a quick drawing of Kushina's headdress described later on in the chapter if ever you're interested. :) As well as a last minute sketch of Naruto's. Feel free to check them out on my profile!

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><p><strong>Don't Look Back<strong>

_Filled With Love_

_(Part I)_

''You wished to see us, Hiroto-sama?'' Kushina said, entering her leader's office along with her husband.

''Yes. Please, take a seat. I have a mission for you two.''

In the Whirlpool village, similarly to Konoha, the strongest ninja of the village was chosen as their representative and administrator. Uzushio was too small a village to have a kage, and even if they could have one, they thought their affiliation to Konoha was enough. Regardless, it was very frequent for the Uzumaki clan leader to also be the village leader. It was quite a large amount of responsibilities, but with many decades of experience and wars in his history book, Hiroto wasn't fazed by the burden anymore. Plus, to help him run the village, he was aided by the village committee which consisted of the other clan leaders and many office workers.

Hiroto took out a heavily sealed scroll from his file cabinet and set it in front of the young couple.

''It is an extremely delicate mission, but I think you are the most qualified to take care of it.'' He said, looking directly at Kushina. He opened up the scroll after unlocking the seal and skimmed over it to better structure his retelling of the situation. ''The mission was requested by the Fourth Kazekage himself and is considered an S-class state affair.''

''S-ranked...'' Kushina whispered with some disbelief, looking at her husband. The latter looked back with a more sober expression. There had been extremely few of those missions since the last war. At least, both Kushina and Minato had not gotten any for a few years now, and they knew for a fact that clients usually trusted Konoha more with these missions. Unless, of course, they had to do with seals... Hiroto nodded, his expression grave and serious.

''It stopped being a village secret the moment the Kazekage requested this mission, so to come down to this, I suspect the situation is much worse than he is letting on in this request.'' Hiroto sighed heavily. Minato and Kushina were now very pressed to know what this was about but did not say anything. They waited for their leader to clarify.

''Ever since the Ichibi's first Jinchuuriki was locked away in Suna, it's never been clear what became of the tailed beast. It was revealed to me in this report that the beast is now sealed in the Kazekage's own son, who's about Naruto-chan's age. However, the seal seems to have been poorly performed; Shukaku practically controls the boy and is killing civilians and valuable Suna shinobis. He requests that Uzumaki seal masters be sent to... correct the situation. Those are his words.''

Hiroto pressed his lips tightly together. He knew of the Fourth Kazekage's budding reputation. The harsh environment of Suna, the decline in economy and military forces the village was facing along with his wife's death... All this, Hiroto supposed, had forged the man into a cold and pragmatic leader.

''The poor boy...'' Kushina said. She and Minato shared a look . Minato had a deep frown on his features while Kushina was much more transparent about how terrible this situation made her feel. The fact that the boy was Naruto's age probably made her much more sensitive to Kazekage's son's case. Hiroto closed his eyes for a moment.

''I suppose it must be hard on the Kazekage's pride to reveal this information to an old enemy village and ask for our help. He probably meant his son to become a powerful weapon to strengthen his village, but that obviously backfired at him.''

''Turn his son into a weapon? That's disgusting.'' Kushina spit out, clenching her fists tightly. The other two men could only agree.

''Indeed...'' Hiroto closed the scroll and set it aside. ''As you can imagine, this is an extremely delicate situation. I know Lord First, with the help of Mito-sama, distributed the tailed beasts among villages as part of his treaty of peace, but we all know how well that went. Since the Kazekage obviously meant to turn his own son into a heartless weapon, I am not very comfortable with the thought of sending you to 'correct' the seal to make his plan work. However, to refuse would be an offence which could come back and hunt us in the future.'' Kushina raised a sceptical brow at that.

''It's not like he could declare war on us for that, and his village certainly isn't in a state to fight us.''

''True, but I would rather avoid creating any animosity between us and other villages.'' Minato nodded at that. He shared his leader's view on the matter as well. ''If I send you there and have you temper the seal in a manner that will keep the boy from ever being able to use the One-Tail's power, the Kazekage, of course, will accuse us of trying to diminish his village's power. So we cannot do that either.''

''Man, it really is tricky.'' Kushina groaned, scratching her head in deep thought. Something else Naruto had gotten from her, Minato couldn't help but think.

''Do you think it would be reasonable to modify the seal so the boy can only access the beast's full power at a certain age or in a certain state of mind?'' Minato asked, thinking of how they could avoid all possible drawbacks. This would be an extremely hard feat to accomplish; it would require a level of strength and complexity for the seal that has probably never been seen before. It was one thing to apply restrains for a seal locking away a jutsu or restraining a human being... but for a tailed beast, it was an other matter entirely.

''That is precisely what I was thinking.'' Hiroto nodded to the blond man. ''The Kazekage hasn't attached the seal design to his request, which is understandable. So you'll only be able to know for sure what you can do with it once you're there. Regardless, like Minato-kun suggested, it would be best if we only let the boy have limited access to Ichibi's power until he is of age. Additionally, if you could redesign it in a way that he cannot draw the beast's full power when in a state of rage or other such feelings, perhaps it would help our cause.''

''Hm...'' Minato frowned at that. He held his chin in his finger, thinking over this plan. ''If the Kazekage plans on turning his son into a murderer, then I am not sure it would be much help. He might not feel anything as he kills, he will have no difficulty in summoning the Ichibi's power then.''

''Yes, that is true. You are very insightful, Minato-kun.'' Hiroto couldn't help but smile. His village was lucky that such a man had pledged his allegiance to their village, now almost a decade ago. ''This is exactly the reason why I assigned you to this mission along with Kushina-chan. Not only are you as much of an accomplished seal master as my best clansmen, but you are also very clever. With Kushina's expertise on Jinchuuriki seals and your insight, I have no doubt you will carry this mission successfully and find a reasonable solution for the seal.''

Minato bowed deeply to his leader, genuinely flattered the man thought so highly of him. He couldn't help but smile a little bit childishly. Kushina looked just as proud of her husband.

''The Kazekage is expecting my chosen seal masters to arrive in Suna within two weeks from now. That leaves you about a week to study seals and prepare for the mission. It isn't much, especially since we don't know what the seal looks like, but it is still better than nothing. Since this is such an important mission, I will grant you a limited access to the Hidden Library.''

Both Minato and Kushina's eyes grew big with excitement at the prospect. Only the clan leader and very few select others had access to the Library. It was an honour of the highest nature and an opportunity that will probably never present itself again. The Hidden Library was an enormous archive situated under the Great Temple of Seals and contained all the notes of all seal masters since even before the foundation of the village, back when the masters were still nomads. It also contained all records of top secret events that occurred regarding the village.

''It will grant you access to the all notes on sealing techniques relevant for this case. I hope it will be of use to you.'' Hiroto said, applying his personalized key-seal on their hands to unlock certain sections of the Library.

''Thank you for entrusting us with this, Hiroto-sama.'' Kushina bowed solemnly. Her husband did the same.

''One more thing.'' Hiroto added, causing the two to look back up at him again. ''I think this is a good opportunity for us to make a political statement. Our village is stronger and more prosper than ever since the start of the wars. Same goes for Konoha. Our village could do well with a little more respect and even _fear_ from the other villages. We are not taken seriously enough and are not receiving enough foreign missions to my taste. Sending only two seal masters should send that message to the Kazekage. Also, I would like you, Minato-kun, to wear your Konoha forehead protector for this mission. Lord Third agrees with this. The bond between our villages is strong; you two symbolize that bond in its strongest form.'' Minato unconsciously took Kushina's hand in his. ''It will benefit us if others see that we are still strong allies with a village as powerful as Konoha. Don't be afraid to show off a bit, is what I'm saying.'' Hiroto summarized with an almost cocky smile.

''Right!'' Kushina exclaimed, raising her clenched first in determination. Her fiery eyes dissolved when a thought struck her. ''Hiroto-sama... can we have your permission to bring Naruto along for this mission?'' Minato turned to her instantly. Both he and Hiroto were stunned by the request.

''I'm just thinking,'' Kushina continued with hands up defensively, keeping both men from voicing their protest. ''it would be good for Naruto to travel outside of the village. He liked the trip to Konoha so much... He wouldn't interfere with the mission, of course! It's just, well... He could be part of the showing off thing too, you know? Er... And it's summer break, so he wouldn't miss school...'' Kushina scratched her cheek and laughed nervously. She was trying to find a legitimate reason to bring Naruto along, but truth was there were none. Kushina simply wanted to have her precious son with her. This mission sounded like it could take a while and since it wasn't the kind of mission that involved travelling in dangerous territory or fighting unexpected enemies and such, bringing Naruto shouldn't be that much of an issue, technically speaking.

''Hm...'' Hiroto stroke his chin pensively. ''I suppose there would be no harm in bringing him along.''

''Yes!'' Kushina punched the air in triumph then caught herself. ''Um, I mean uh...'' She bowed, slightly embarrassed. ''Thank you, Hiroto-Sama.'' Minato chuckled at the sight of his ever energetic wife.

OoOoO

After a week of intense research and study, the young Uzumakis set off for Sunagakure. It was a happy coincidence that Jiraiya had decided to pay a visit on the same day Kushina and Minato had met with their leader; the Toad Sage stayed the week and kept an eye on Naruto while the two parents spent most of their time in the Hidden Library, seeing as they were not allowed to take any document out of the place. It was also fortunate that Jiraiya was not caught doing any of his own 'research' during his stay. Though Minato suspected that was thanks to Kushina and the epic beating she had given him when, during his last visit two years ago, he had tried to use Naruto's cute face as a chick magnet. Instead, Jiraiya spent most of his time doing some training with his favourite (and only) godson and even gave him a copy of his first book ''Tales of a Gutsy Ninja''.

Naruto did vaguely remember asking his parents why they had named him Naruto, but he had been pretty small back then and didn't remember much. Seeing the book had reminded him. At a family dinner they had together the four of them, Minato had told Naruto, this time in more details, how they had decided on his name. Needless to say, Naruto thought it was awesome and had asked Jiraiya, with the support of his parents, to do a dramatic reading of the first chapter that night. That had him hooked and it was now Naruto's favourite book. Quite a feat, considering Naruto wasn't normally the type for recreational reading.

Now, their camp set out in the middle of the desert, several kilometres away from Suna, the two parents listened as their son read the book aloud to them. The simple scene was surprisingly moving for both Kushina and Minato. After finishing his chapter, Naruto put his bookmark in and closed the book before letting himself fall back onto the large portable futon, between his parents. The three of them silently looked up; the thick fabric that made up the roof of their tent had been opened so they could indulge in some stargazing. The desert, with its lack of lights and buildings, made the millions of stars more visible to them. After a while, Naruto let his fatigue get the better of him, and closed his eyes.

''I'm happy you're my parents.'' He said softly, keeping his eyes closed. Kushina and Minato exchanged an unreadable look; a mix of pure happiness and pride which melted into a sort of bashful expression.

''We're happy you're our son.'' Minato replied as Kushina leaned in to kiss her son's cheek, then he did the same. They watched, silently, their eyes fixed on their child, until the boy's breath evened and his features completely relaxed.

It certainly wasn't the first time their son said something like this. While any children would express their love for their parents, Naruto had that habit of expressing it at a time and in a manner that caught them off guard and could sometimes nearly bring them to tears. If Kushina often teased Minato by saying their child had inherited his sensitivity, Minato replied that Naruto had gotten Kushina's habit of being too transparent and demonstrative of her feelings. Naruto was definitely a mix of the two of them, there was no doubt about it.

Kushina was absentmindedly stroking her son's soft hair when she finally noticed something different about him. For a while now, Naruto had leaked out less and less chakra. Though it was always in very small quantities, it was a common sign of a child developing his or her chakra coils. She noticed he was not leaking any. As if reading her thoughts, her husband performed a quick scanning jutsu and ran it over Naruto's body.

''His chakra coils have finally reached maturity and his reserve is enormous.'' Now that it was stabilized, it was a lot easier for Minato to see what was his son's potential in terms of chakra. It was impressive, even for an Uzumaki. Kushina smiled then did a quick calculation, counting the months on her fingers.

''Seven years and nine months. Almost exactly like me!'' Kushina exclaimed proudly. ''His chakra reserve is slightly larger than mine at his age. That's probably why it took a bit longer.'' Kushina said as she ran her own scanning jutsu.

''Do you think he might have inherited your chakra chains?''

''Hm...'' Kushina pouted in thought. ''I've never heard of an ability repeating itself within my clan, but I suppose we'll only know when Naruto manifests his, if he does have one.'' Kushina resumed her hair-stroking. ''Even though I took seven years, it took a couple more years until I manifested my chakra chains. It usually takes a strong triggering event for that.''

''A strong triggering event?'' Minato repeated with clear curiosity in his voice. He had just realized he had never asked his wife the first time she used her chakra chains.

''Mine was when Mito-sama sealed the Kyuubi into me. The second time I used them was during the third war; I used them to help my clan fight against the Five-Tails' Jinchuriki, who as you know is from Iwa.'' Minato suspected that had been instrumental to their final victory.

''Did you-'' Minato stopped dead. He narrowed his eyes and concentrated his senses towards the faint presence he had just detected. Kushina, who also sensed it, nodded to Minato in a silent agreement; she would stay here with Naruto while he went out to search for the intruder.

Minato placed one of his special kunai beside their bed just in case and shunshined right out of the tent. Once outside, Minato silently moved towards the direction of the intruder. The latter was much closer to their camp than Minato had hoped; it had to be a ninja to be able to hide their chakra signature.

''Show yourself.'' Minato said in his most commanding tone. He didn't know if the intruder was an enemy or not yet. He did not take any chances though; he held his defence stance and held his kunai high, ready to respond to attack.

Shurikens went flying in his direction. Minato deflected all of them with practiced ease. _Definitely an enemy. _He quickly threw his special kunai towards the moving sand-coloured shape. The enemy's camouflage skills were poor to say the least. Minato used his Hirashin and locked the intruder's neck into a strong hold of his arm, while his other arm brought another kunai to the enemy's face.

''Too easy.'' Minato said smugly. Being so fast and having a 'flee-on-sight' label had its disadvantages; he was hardly given a challenge on the field anymore.

The ninja, a rather large male around Minato's age, undid his camouflage jutsu. Minato's eyes widened in surprise.

''What's a sound ninja doing all the way out here spying on us, uh?'' The Oto nin struggled to breath; he brought his hands in vain attempt to pull off Minato's strong grip. Minato was not fazed. He dipped the point of his kunai slightly into the man's cheek, drawing enough blood to let the stranger know he meant business. It was his family he was protecting; Minato would certainly not play the softie under those conditions.

''As if I'd tell you!'' The man's harsh voice managed to come out. Minato swiftly tied up the man's arms and swirled him around so he was facing him. He grabbed the man's collar and repeated his question. As soon as he properly saw his adversary, the Oto nin's face contorted into an ugly panicked face.

''The Ye-Ye-Ye-''

''That's right.'' Minato said with a smirk. ''I'm the Ye-Ye-Yellow Flash. Now answer my question. What are you doing here?'' The Oto nin stared unblinking, breath short with an imminent anxiety attack.

''Oh no you won't!'' Minato said when he saw the subtle movement of the Oto nin's jaw. Minato managed to hold the man's face enough that the latter wouldn't bite on his emergency poison capsule. Minato managed to make the man spit it out, but to do that, he had to let go of his restraining grip. The man wiggled out of Minato's reach. The man screamed shamelessly as he ran away, hands still tied up. Minato sighed and used his Hirashin to capture the man again.

''They never learn.'' Minato said calmly, shaking his head in disappointment as if he was talking to a child. Minato always placed his seal on his enemy as soon as they came into contact. Did he really think they could just run away from him?

''Don't touch me!'' The Oto nin screamed out. He managed to bring his tied hands together in a simple sign, he was able to activate another emergency jutsu, knowing he was done for. Minato stepped back as soon as the man immolated. The man screamed in pain as he was consumed by fire. Minato clicked his tongue in annoyance; it was not a pretty sight. He also didn't want his son to hear this screaming. Going through a quick series of hand sings, he performed a suiton jutsu to put out the fire. The man was petrified from the trauma and looked very awful, but he was still very much alive. Minato walked slowly to the man, looking down at him with cold, calculating eyes.

''What to do with you...'' Minato muttered under his breath, sighing at this inconvenience. They couldn't bring him along, of course. They certainly wouldn't hand a spy over to an ex-enemy village. They had to bring him to either Uzushio's or Konoha's I&T department. If they left him out here until another squad came to pick the oto nin up, who knew what might happen in between? Would he manage to run off, even if highly improbably in his current state? Or would he die from his injuries?

''This is very troublesome.'' Minato said, quoting an old friend of his, searching for some clues in his prisoner's burnt clothes. The man sounded like he wanted to sob, but was too injured and hurting to make out proper sounds. ''You must have some pretty big secrets to hide, to set yourself on fire like that.'' Minato told the man nonchalantly as he continued his search. ''Ah-ha! what's this?'' Minato took out a damaged scroll from a hidden pocket. The scroll was obviously sealed, but that would be no problem for him and his village. Rather, it would be the partially burnt information that might serve as the challenge. There didn't seem to be any other significant item on the man other than weapons.

''Alright. I guess that's that.'' Minato performed a quick doton jutsu and created a deep square hole into the ground. He disposed of all of the enemy's weapons, sealed him up and covered his mouth to make sure the nin wouldn't kill himself. He grabbed the groaning man's foot and threw him unceremoniously into the pit. He hid the improvised prison before closing it with a thick cover of sand and placed a locking seal on top. There should be enough air in there for the man to survive until a squad from Uzushio arrived; they'd find him with a seal detection jutsu and would probably bring him over to Konoha for interrogation since it was one of the Leaf's specialties. Minato then summoned one of his young frogs.

''Yo, captain!'' Gamakichi appeared in a small cloud of smoke. Minato smiled and handed the scroll over to the frog who extended his tongue and swallowed it right in. It would preserve the scroll from further damage.

''Bring this over to Hiroto-sama and tell him to send a retrieval squad for a prisoner I hid right here.'' Minato gestured towards the hidden prison. Minato continued to brief the frog on what happened and gave him specific instructions as to what to do next. Once the frog disappeared, Minato went back to his tent where he found Naruto fully awake and in his mother's arms. The little blond smiled brightly at the sight of him, seemingly relieved to see his father without even a scratch on him.

''Dad! You're okay!''

''Told you.'' Kushina smiled. The blond boy had been really alarmed at the sudden screams of pain that had brought him out of his sleep. Kushina knew it wasn't Minato and had told his son that much, but Naruto still had a lingering fear until now. Minato sat beside him and ruffled his hair.

''An Oto-nin was spying on us.'' Minato told Kushina; the details would have to wait once Naruto was out of hearing range.

''Oto? That small new village?'' Minato nodded. Otogakure was an entirely new village that had seemingly popped out of nowhere. They had started hearing about it only a few months ago. It was his first time meeting a ninja form that village. He was not impressed. ''Why would Oto, of all villages, want to spy on us? Do they know about our mission? That seems unlikely...'' Minato nodded again. Naruto looked curiously between his parents, deeply interested in what was happening. It really was a real, actual mission after all! The way his parents had described it to him, it hadn't sounded very exciting.

''I have no idea. We'll have to wait for the T&I forces to be done interrogating him. The Oto-nin was surprised to see me there. So I think it's safe to assume he wasn't spying on us specifically. Rather, maybe he was sent to spy on Uzushio's activities in general... or maybe, like you suggested, Oto knows seal masters were sent to the Kazekage and they want to know why.''

''Where's the enemy ninja now?'' Naruto asked. From his father's words, the nin was still alive but nowhere to be found.

''Hidden.'' Minato replied simply, smiling.

''Well...'' Kushina said, stretching her limps and getting up. ''I'll take the first watch, so you can go to sleep, honey.''

''Thanks.'' Minato smiled, taking off his Jounin vest and sandals. He gently grabbing his son's shoulder and got them comfortable beneath the covers of the futon. Kushina watched the scene with a tender gaze. Minato had grown unbelievably strong in the last decade. Gaining a family had been the one push that Minato had needed to finally reach his full potential.

OoOoO

They arrived in Sunagakure late afternoon the next day. They went to the hotel they had booked for the night; they were scheduled to meet the Kazekage the next morning, so they simply enjoyed a copious dinner (a nice change from the field rations) and a nice bed. Early the next morning, the three of them got ready for their meeting. The Kazekage had been informed by Hiroto that the seal masters were actually a married couple and were coming with their child, so he had invited all three of them to meet his own family. Keeping in mind that she had been allowed by her leader to show off, Kushina had brought a simple, but elegant ceremonial outfit for the occasion.

''You look so pretty, mom!'' Naruto exclaimed cheerfully when he saw his mom coming out of the bathroom. She was wearing an outfit that was eerily similar to Mito's own. A subtle message that emanated strength and stability. The only differences were that the obi and longer kimono she wore under the white one was was a darker shade of green and that she had arranged her hair differently. She had a crown-like headdress much like Mito's and she had tied up half of her long hair into a single bun at the back, letting the other half fall freely against her shoulders. In her bun, she had planted six long, large golden chopsticks, disposed like a fan. The two at the extremities had paper seals hanging, again, a reminder of Mito's (and the clan's in general) specialty. She had even put on some thin black lines around her eyes and a bit of red on her lips. Her pale skin and magnificent red hair brought out the effect quite nicely. Makeup was definitely not something Kushina particularly liked, but she still enjoyed indulging in it for special occasions, if only to see Minato's blushing fish face. Speaking of which...

''Kushina...'' Minato never failed to be awe-struck by his wife's beauty. While he, of course, found her beautiful in any kind of garments, seeing her dressed like this brought out an air of grace in her that was simply stunning. An irrational part of him was jealous of the Kazekage who was, apparently, a worthy man enough for her to dress up like this. Unable to resist the sudden possessive feeling inside of him, Minato took a few steps forward and captured his wife's lips in a chaste but tender kiss.

''Ewww... gross.'' Naruto said childishly, covering his eyes with his hands. His parents chuckled.

''It's okay, we're done.'' Kushina laughed.

Naruto took his hands off his eyes and smiled broadly.

''You look like a queen!'' There was a strange glint in Kushina's smiling eyes that suddenly made Naruto feel nervous.

''I'm glad you like how I look, sweetheart, because I brought a matching outfit just for you!'' Kushina cheered and all but ran to her luggage to take out a much smaller, but very similar outfit. Kushina was almost squealing at the prospect.

''Eh?!'' Naruto's voice was full of surprise and disbelief. He stormed in the opposite direction, hoping to escape from his mom, but Kushina was quick to capture him. Minato sweatdropped at the scene. He knew his wife was always looking for an excuse to dress up her cute son. For someone who didn't care to doll herself up, Kushina was surprisingly fussy over her son's appearance.

After long minutes of screaming, protests and suspicious breaking noises, Naruto finally came out of the bathroom with his mother, impeccably dressed. Minato smiled at the sight of his beautiful family, butterflies fluttering in his stomach from the pride he felt. Naruto looked particularly adorable with his pouty expression.

''So cute, Naru-chan!'' Kushina squealed, hugging her son tight with her cheek glued to Naruto's.

''I look like a girl.'' Naruto was torn between feeling upset or just plain embarrassed.

''No, you don't.'' Kushina laughed, her voice not at all convincing. Children up to a certain age looked fairly androgynous and Naruto, with his golden hair, wide blue eyes and his mother's face, was no exception. The whiskers on his face only added to the charm. The outfit, even though adapted for little boys, was not particularly masculine either. All traditional outfits in the Uzumaki clan were more or less gender neutral. However, since the clan was traditionally run by women (Hiroto being one of the exceptions) there was an established, slightly feminine tendency in their designs.

The kimono was almost identical, though the secondary colour was orange instead of green as it was Naruto's favourite, and ended at the knees. Under it, Naruto wore puffy pants over which he had mid-shin boots made of thick fabric. It had the typical long sleeves and instead of the headdress, Naruto wore a simple hat with the Uzumaki symbol embroidered around it and two thick strings going down on each side of his face with two paper seals. Minato had to agree with his wife; their son was adorable.

Minato, for his part, was glad he was spared the whole get-up ordeal. Going in as a Konoha ninja of no particular clan, he could afford going dressed in his simple Jounin uniform.

OoOoO

The little family was escorted by a special force squad directly from their hotel to the Kazekage's private domain. There, they entered a spacious, soberly decorated room at the end of which stood the Kazekage dressed in his kage robes and three children at his side. At the far corners of the room, there were four Jounin standing as guards. Minato and Kushina instantly noticed the ominous aura around the youngest one; an indifferent, if maybe a little tired, looking redhead. Without a doubt the Jinchuuriki. The two older ones were on the other side of their father and probably standing further away than necessary. They looked nervous and uncomfortable. As for the Kazekage himself, it was hard to tell since almost all his features were hidden, but his eyes showed much the same expression as his youngest's. Naruto suddenly felt very small and more than a little tense .

Kushina and Naruto lifted up their folded hands, always hidden in their sleeves, and inclined their head forward for a polite Uzumaki-style greeting. Minato went for a standard bow, arms immobile at his sides.

''Welcome.'' Subaku no Rasa said curtly, not bothering to return the bow. This was not a meeting for diplomatic negotiations; it was a highly paid mission. He did not feel the need for useless civilities. ''This is my eldest, Temari.'' He lifted his chin towards the blond girl, who nodded politely. ''This is Kankuro.'' The boy did the same, but seemed to lack some of the confidence his sister had. ''And Gaara, the Ichibi's Jinchuuriki.'' The redhead stayed perfectly stoic, eyes fixed on nothing in particular.

''I am Uzumaki Kushina, Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi.'' Kushina said in an even tone that took Naruto off guard. He had never seen his mother look so serious and calm. His mother was so full of energy at home, he had sort of assumed she would be the same on missions, but apparently not. He was humbled and felt a little guilty for assuming.

''This is my husband, Uzumaki Minato, and my son Uzumaki Naruto.'' At the mention of her son, Kushina gave a soft smile to the small blond. Naruto smiled back at her shyly, feeling a little more comfortable now.

Though he did not show it, the Kazekage was surprised to learn that the Kyuubi container was married to none other than the infamous Yellow Flash. He knew of both shinobi's reputations on the field; the fearful chain wielder and great seal master Uzumaki Kushina and the flee-on-sight Uzumaki or Namikaze Minato, depending on the sources. Rasa speared their child a look. He looked no older than six and seemed perfectly inoffensive. However, Rasa was no fool; the boy was bound to become a formidable shinobi.

''I will have one of my trusted Jounin stay with the children while we discuss the details of the... issue at hand.''

OoOoO

They listened to the Kazekage explain Gaara's circumstances. The original sealer was a retired shinobi, a certain old lady named Chiyo, whom, according to the Kazekage, was the best Fuuinjutsu user in the village. It was clear, however, that her mastery of seals were rudimentary compared to the Uzumaki Clan's. The Kazekage had reproduced the seal on paper for them to look over. Both Minato and Kushina were surprised to find how bad it truly was and were already dreading what could possibly done with the seal in the state that it was in.

The Kazekage also explained the 'tests' Gaara went through. Kushina thought this, when looking back on it, would probably end up being the hardest part of the mission. Minato could tell it was taking all of her wife's self-control not to latch at the man for the obvious neglect and psychological abuse of his son. Uzumakis were not known for their diplomatic skills, that was for certain. Still, Minato was impressed she managed to only express her disgust with a disapproving scowl on her face.

''Gaara's latest failure was the murder of his uncle Yashamaru some months ago. He and Gaara had a deep bond, deep enough to keep Shukaku in check, or so I thought.'' The two Whirlpool ninjas narrowed their eyes; they didn't like the sound of this latest piece of information. ''I ordered Yashamaru to kill Gaara; he failed of course, and Shukaku took control over Gaara. It could have been catastrophic had I not intervened early enough.''

Kushina, unable to stand it any longer, slammed her hands hard against the table between her and the Kazekage. The cups of tea, from which none of them had sipped, lost balance and spilled their content. Nobody gave heed to it. Minato had his fists clenched firmly together. Rasa did not even flinch at the display. The Kazekage knew Hidden Leaf to be a sensitive bunch of wimps -it was a wonder they were so strong- but he had not known the Hidden Whirlpool to be the same.

''How ironic that your son has 'love' tattooed on his forehead.'' Kushina said after taking some deep breaths. ''The very first Jinchuuriki, our esteemed Mito-sama, taught me what the true strength of all Jinchuuriki was.''

Even though practically all his face was hidden, the Uzushio nins could tell by the slight widening of his eyes that the man was suddenly very interested in what she had to say.

''Love.'' Kushina said simply. There was a long silence that followed. The Kazekage had reverted back to his deep frown. At last, the man gave a small snort.

''I did not hire you to hug my son into submission.'' Kushina's glare sharpened. ''I hired you to strengthen his seal so he can have better control over Shukaku's power. His emotions are too volatile and Shukaku's influence impairs his judgement. He uses this weakness to manifest himself.''

''And I will. However, you will have been informed. There is no seal, no matter how powerful, that can cure a broken heart. It is your son's broken heart that will drag him, and with him you and your village, to ruin.''

''Kushina...'' Minato said quietly, worried his wife had gone too far. He agreed whole-heartedly with her and if anything, he admired that she had the guts to say it. However, making such declarations could bring animosity between their villages, and Kami knew it took less than that to bring villages at war.

''Hn.'' The Kazekage did not seem impressed by the redhead's threat. ''We'll see about that.''

Their conversation was abruptly interrupted by a loud explosion coming from another room. All three experienced shinobi rushed to the source of the explosion. Just as they feared, it came from the room in which the children had been placed. The scene that greeted them struck pure fear in Minato's and Kushina's hearts.

Naruto was held captive by a blond man whose hair was done in a high ponytail and who had a black cloak with red clouds on it. If their sources were correct, this was the trademark outfit of the Akatsuki. Minato and Kushina could not believe their misfortune. Of all the days the Akatsuki decided to make their attack on Suna, undoubtedly to get the Ichibi, it had to be when they were visiting there. The blond man was not alone; there was a redhead as well. They supposed they were lucky there were only two of them.

''Stupid kid.'' Deidara muttered under his breath as Naruto struggled vainly to get out of the older blond's grip. He had meant to capture the red-haired kid, but this little brat had to jump in and be an annoyance.

''Dad! Mom!'' Naruto screamed, obviously relieved to see his parents show up.

''Release my son right now!'' Minato cried out in his most threatening voice. He took out one of his tri-pointed kunai and went into a fighting stance. The Kazekage joined his Jounins who had moved protectively around the Kazekage's three children. Kushina had been so angry to see her son in this position; her pupils were now red and slanted like the Kyuubi's. She radiated with beast's ominous chakra. The two members of the Akatsuki shared a quick look.

''It seems we'll get both the Ichibi and the Kyuubi today.'' Deidara said smugly and threw one of his explosive clay figure towards the Uzushio nins while Sasori went straight for the Kazekage and his Jounins.

Minato hirashined out of the way while Kushina stayed firmly in place. She performed a quick series of hand signs and opened her arms wide, chakra ink enveloping the budding explosion before it even had time to make any damage and compressing it into a small locked sphere.

''What?!'' Deidara exclaimed. Before he knew what was going on, he was knocked out on the ground, the blond kid no longer in his arms. Minato reappeared beside his wife, his son unharmed and secured in his protective embrace.

All the while, Sasori tried to get past the Kazekage, but the man used his gold dust to effectively put out one of his puppets. Some of the Kazekage's Jounins launched at him, but Sasori was much stronger than them. He used another of his puppets to put them all out. The Sand ninjas fell to the ground, squirming in pain from the poison slowly eating away the flesh within their bodies. Rasa's eyes sharpened at that. He could not afford losing more of his shinobi. He willed his gold dust towards the puppet.

Minato had never seen his wife looking like she did at that moment. She rarely used the Kyuubi's chakra and here she had instantly resorted to it. Her anger had obviously taken the better of her and was slightly wavering her control over the beast within her. She was running towards Deidara, still on the ground. Minato had knocked him out with his rasengan, but he was impressed the man was still alive after the blow. It spoke volumes of the Akatsuki's strength. Minato doubt they sent their strongest members on the retrieval mission too. Especially for this case; their target, after all, was the Ichibi, the weakest of the beasts, sealed into a mere child.

Above her right hand, Kushina was still holding the sphere with its seal makings constantly moving around it. Through the markings, you could see the budding explosion now frozen in the time prison that was Kushina's technique. Deidara's face twisted uglily from pain to panic. He weakly got up on his feet again and flew away from Kushina. The latter stopped and extended out her left hand from which a chakra chain came out. It flew towards Deidara and pierced right through his ankle.

''Argh!'' The blond man screamed in pain. Kushina pulled on the chain and brought the man back down to the floor, then dragged him towards her.

While the Kazekage fought against his village's missing nin, he looked from the corner of his eyes the fight between his guests and the other intruder. He suddenly was seized by uncontrollable rage. This was how strong he wanted his son to be, but he was stuck with a nuisance instead. Uzushio, on the other hand, had the strongest of the Tailed Beasts and its container was formidable in her own right. He forced his focus back onto his opponent who was still holding his own against him. He refused to look weak in front of his guests. He latched his golden dust onto the redhead, but the latter managed to escape from his attack.

Kushina was about to plant her sphere into his opponent's stomach, but Sasori shunshined in time to gather his injured partner and get them out of the way.

''We are retreating.'' Sasori informed his partner hurriedly, running out of the building through the whole Deidara had made in the wall. ''We can't take on the Kazekage, the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki _and_ the Yellow Flash. It would be suicide.'' He explained before Deidara could protest.

''You're not getting away that easily.'' Minato growled before delivering a powerful kick to Sasori's face, successfully separating the two. Minato had reluctantly put his son on the ground and had used the seal he had put on Deidara earlier to teleport to the enemies. Sasori fell to the ground, face bleeding heavily and half unconscious, while Deidara had managed to land on his feet further away from the Konoha nin.

''How?'' Deidara was dumbfounded. Then he remembered what he had heard about the infamous Yellow Flash. He searched over his body for the other blond's seal and found it on his arm. He took out a kunai and cut deep into his skin to literally peel the seal off him.

''Run!'' Sasori screamed to his partner. The Yellow Flash had grabbed the redhead's collar and was summoning another Rasengan with his free hand. Minato turned to look at Deidara who was escaping out of the neighbourhood. He let Sasori fall to the ground, knowing the redhead couldn't go very far in his state, then used Hirashin to catch the other fugitive. To his surprised, he landed in a small pool of blood and saw a rather large peice of flesh with his seal on it._ Hm... Nobody had tried that before. I guess I just found out my technique's weakness._

Meanwhile, Sasori desperately tried to escape as well, but he was suddenly imprisoned in the Kazekage's gold dust.

''I'll take care of this one.'' Rasa said. ''He is our missing nin, after all.''

Kushina and Minato dispelled heir respective techniques. Deidara was too far now to pursue the fight.

OoOoO

After Sasori was properly restrained, he was locked in Suna's most secure prison. The Kazekage, Kushina, Minato and their children moved to an undamaged room of the leader's mansion and discussed the event. Minato and Kushina updated the Kazekage on the Akatsuki's goals. While the Kazekage had heard of the new group, he did not have a spy network as large as Jiraiya's. Minato kindly asked the Kazekage to share any information he was willing to give if they managed to get Sasori to speak; after all, they would certainly come back for them, both Gaara and Kushina. Deep inside though, Minato suspected the Kazekage wouldn't do them the favour, despite his promise to do so.

While they talked, Minato spared a glanced to the group of quiet children near them. Naruto still looked a little shell-shocked from the event, which was normal, but he certainly didn't like the look he was getting from Gaara. Why was the boy looking at Naruto so intently? It looked practically murderous. Something must have happened before they arrived. He wanted to find out.

An opportunity to do so presented itself that very night. The little family had been sleeping in one of the Kazekage's guest rooms when some sand slipped under their room's door. Minato, sensing Shukaku's strong demonic presence, woke up and watched the little stream of sand make its way towards Naruto's bed. There was no intent to kill or harm behind this, Minato could tell, so he decided to wait and see. Beside him, Kushina woke sensing the presence as well, but he managed to silently dissuade her from getting involved.

''I'll watch. Pretend you're asleep. I'll explain later.'' Minato whispered. Kushina, who had complete faith in her husband, did as she was told. Minato did the same; he pretended to sleep. As he suspected, Naruto slowly woke up when he felt the sand brush his cheek and quietly tip toed to the door.

''Gaara-kun? What's going on?'' Naruto whispered quietly, not to wake his parents.

''Come.'' Gaara said simply. Naruto, the naive trusting child that he was, followed the redhead. Minato slipped out of the bed and quietly followed them, hidden in the shadows.

They ended up on the rooftop. Naruto looked up to the sky, a little smile on his face.

''Did you want to show me the stars? Do you like them?'' Naruto asked the other boy. The latter did not reply.

''What's going on? Are you okay?'' Naruto asked with genuine concern in his voice. ''Is it because of the attack? Are you scared? Don't worry, our parents will protect us! But just until we're strong enough to beat them ourselves, you know? Haha!'' He said cheerfully. His laughter died down when the young redhead still kept quiet.

Minato narrowed his eyes. He had his pointed Kunai in his hand and he had also placed a seal on Naruto earlier. He wondered why he had not done it before... then again, Naruto had never been in a situation of true danger before today and had never needed it. Naruto had sensed the seal, but did not say anything. He felt safer having it on him.

Suddenly, a man appeared beside him. Minato turned towards the intruder, surprised he had not sensed the man coming. The latter had short, dull auburn hair, a very forgetful face and was wearing a simple, black standard shinobi outfit.

''Interesting.'' The man said in a low voice. _That voice!_ Minato thought.

''Kazekage...'' Minato said in a low growl. It seemed the man was here for the same reason as he. Minato suddenly didn't like how this was looking strangely like another of his 'tests'. His son was _not_ going to be a test for the Kazekage's thirst of power. He meant to move and take Naruto away, but the Kazekage seized his arm.

''Don't intervene yet. I'll let you if Gaara displays dangerous behaviour, but until then, don't. If you cooperate, I will forget about your wife's inappropriate comment and will make sure Uzushio will benefit from more collaboration on my part.'' Minato bit the inside of his cheek in anger. He was being manipulated. He could disregard the man's request... he knew he could, but... He had to think of the village. Minato turned to look towards the two boys again. He was disgusted with himself for letting this happen.

''Why?'' Gaara said at last.

''Eh?'' Naruto blinked, confused.

''Why did you try to save me earlier?'' Gaara explained. His sand would have protected him anyway. It's not like he had needed it. _Ah, so that's what happened._ Minato thought.

''Well, I had to do something. You were just standing there while that creepy guy was about to get you! So I just jumped in, you know?'' Naruto smiled. It had been foolish of him, he had stood no chance, but he couldn't just watch!

''But why would you do that?''

''Why not?'' Gaara frowned deeply at the reply. It made no sense. It was just as he thought; this little blond doll was stupid. He lived a sheltered life, lived in a lie. It made him angry... it made him want to kill the boy.

''If I hadn't, maybe something would have happened to you.'' Naruto continued. ''Wouldn't that have made your family sad?''

Minato shook his head at Naruto's naivety. He wanted to yell at him. _And what about us, your parents?! _Minato wanted to scream. _What if something had happened to you?! _Naruto either didn't think at all, or was simply entirely too selfless... probably both. He had just discovered that about his son.

''Why would they be? I'm a monster! Everyone hates me!'' Gaara was literally shaking with rage at this point, sand beginning to swirl around him. Minato was about to move, but the Kazekage stopped him again.

''Not yet.'' Rasa instructed. Minato cursed under his breath.

''That's not true!'' Naruto exclaimed. ''You're not a monster!'' The sand around Gaara fell to the ground. Wide green eyes were staring back at him. Naruto walked up closer to the other boy, a determined glint in his clear blue eyes.

''I am... They told me I am and I know I am.'' Gaara's voice was trembling and strangely quiet. The wound from Yashamaru's assault was still fresh in his heart. He had finally understood what he was that night. A monster. Who did this boy think he was, telling him otherwise?

''You're not... That's why my mom and dad are here. They'll fix your seal and you won't accidentally hurt people anymore. It's not your fault you hurt them.''

This time, it was Rasa's turn to look sharply at Minato. Just how much of their mission had they shared with their son? Reading the Kage's look, Minato filled in the answer.

''Naruto's own mother is a Jinchuuriki. He is aware of everything that entails and has even studied his mother's seal before. He is perfectly capable of understanding your son's condition and so we decided to explain him what our mission was. You, however, don't seem to have bothered explaining to _your_ son what's wrong with him.'' Minato said, returning the other man's glare.

''I want to hurt them.'' Gaara replied stubbornly. Naruto's eyebrows raised high on his forehead.

''That can't be true... Mom told me people can be scared of Jinchuurikis sometimes and can be mean... but you don't really want to hurt them, do you?''

Gaara clenched his fists tightly together, looking down at the ground. It might have been true before... but ever since Yashamaru, whom he thought had loved him, he knew nobody would ever care for him. So why should he not want to hurt them?

''You want them to stop being afraid of you... to love you, right?'' Gaara's wide eyes shot back up at Naruto.

Minato's heart melted. His son could be a real mystery sometimes. Just like now, he would show reckless behaviour one moment, and the next he was surprisingly clairvoyant and compassionate. Naruto had a way with words sometimes that just had the ability touch people's hearts... Minato fervently hoped he would be able to touch Gaara's own armoured heart. Maybe there was still a chance, the boy was so young...

Gaara brought a trembling hand to his scarified forehead. It was like Naruto's words made the wound hurt like the night he had engraved the kanji on his skin.

_'There is only one thing that can stop heartache... It's love.' _Yashamaru's voice resounded in Gaara's head.

_'Love? How can I receive that?'_

''Plus, it's not like nobody loves you...'' Naruto said softly, trying to ease the pain Gaara was feeling.

_'Gaara-sama... you already have it.'_

''I don't know much about brothers... but I can tell Temari-chan cares about you!''

_'I think my sister really loved you.'_

Gaara froze. He looked at the blond boy.

''Temari... cares about me?'' Gaara could feel his eyes start to sting. ''No! No!'' Why was he feeling like this? He swore to himself he would never care again. He had never been loved... Yashamaru had told him that!

''She does!'' Naruto insisted. ''I can tell because she looks at you the same way Karin-chan looks at me!'' Naruto said with unwavering determination. Gaara stared at him, tears gathering at the corner of his eyes.

''Oh, Karin-chan's my cousin...'' Naruto clarified, sheepishly scratching the back of his head. ''But she's like my big sister, you know? Sometimes big sisters act tough and like they don't care, but they do, I swear! I think Temari-chan's the same age as Karin-chan too... Karin-chan's nine. How old is your sister?'' Gaara blinked, taken aback by the sudden question. Frankly, he wasn't even sure how old his sister was. He rarely ever saw her, let alone talked to her.

''I... I think she's nine too.'' What was he saying? Naruto walked close to Gaara and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Rasa's eyes grew impossibly wide.

''The sand... didn't reject him?'' He whispered to himself with disbelief. Minato looked at the man with a small, but proud smile.

''He's opening up a bit, it seems. Kushina wasn't kidding when she said Jinchuuriki have to be filled with love in order to be truly strong.''

''Come on, we should probably go back to sleep.'' Naruto grinned. Gaara was still stunned.

''I don't sleep.'' He said simply. Naruto blinked, then realization dawned on him.

''That's probably because of the seal, right? Don't worry, my mom's gonna fix that! Still, we should get going. I don't want mom and dad to find out I sneaked out, you know!'' He laughed before taking Gaara's hand to lead him back inside.

Gaara stared at their linked hands... nobody had held his hand since Yashamaru. He looked back at the blond boy's innocent face. He would betray him too, wouldn't he? He would try to kill him, he and his parents. His father had hired them for that, right? It was all a lie too, wasn't it? He clenched his other hand over his heart.

Deep down, he wanted to believe that maybe... maybe he could be loved after all.

* * *

><p><strong>What do you think?:<strong> I've noticed each chapter gets a bit longer and covers a smaller time frame. I hope my writing isn't becoming too descriptive and boring.

Also, I'm afraid that my subplots might be a little weak. I have a definitive goal I want to reach that I've been (very) slowly building, but taking the time to get there is very taxing. I hope it's not too obvious.

Let me know your impressions and I will try to adjust!


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